For immediate release:
Dec. 10, 2014
QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario’s Auditor General confirmed Tuesday what Opposition MPPs have been saying about the province’s electricity pricing.
In her annual report, Bonnie Lysyk took the government to task for $2 billion spent on Smart Meters without meeting the government’s electricity conservation goals. She also estimated Ontario ratepayers will pay $50 billion in additional electricity charges between 2006 and 2015 to cover the above-market prices paid to green-energy generators.
“This government has insisted on the punitive approach, charging Ontarians more for electricity, instead of encouraging conservation,” Barrett said. “A little more carrot and less stick would go a long way.”
Lysyk also highlighted the province’s skyrocketing debt, which she indicates will reach $325 billion, or $23,000 for every resident, by 2018. She joins the Conference Board of Canada, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the PC Caucus, who have all raised serious red flags about the Liberals’ out-of-control spending.
“From patients, to pensioners, from families with children, to our most vulnerable residents in need – hardworking taxpayers are not getting value for the essential public services they rely on daily,” Barrett said.
For example:
* A failure to inspect nearly half of all residences for Ontarians with developmental disabilities since at least 2010.
* No co-ordinated approach to provide Palliative Care services. Hospice Palliative Care Ontario, a non-profit organization, says 12,000 people need residential hospice care annually.
* No idea from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term where nearly 1 million flu vaccines purchased per year end up.
* A lack of transparency and the ignoring of Infrastructure Ontario’s leading standards with the MaRS Phase 2 bailout – costing taxpayers over $300 million and counting.
“The 2014 Annual Report by Ontario’s Auditor General is a devastating indictment of over a decade of Liberal government waste and mismanagement,” Barrett said. “The fundamental takeaway from the Auditor General’s line-by-line investigations is that Ontario cannot afford to go on like this.”
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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett
At 519-428-0446 or toby.barrett@pc.ola.org