For Immediate Release:
March 3, 2011
Queen’s Park – Are the Caledonia power towers holding up Big Becky?
That was the question MPP Toby Barrett’s colleague John Yakabuski asked yesterday in the Ontario Legislature.
“On Monday, Minister, you said the towers being held hostage at Caledonia were not part of the plan to transmit hydro from Big Becky, but the website of your own government agency says it is,” PC Energy Critic John Yakabuski stormed. “Yesterday you got caught and were forced to admit that it was part of the plan all along. Then you dodged questions over whether these towers were critical to the Big Becky project.
“Either you don’t understand your file, or you attempted to mislead this House. Which one is it?
Minister Brad Duguid accused Mr. Yakabuski of having “no idea what he’s talking about”, and added that the power towers in Caledonia do not impact reliability with interconnection with the state of New York or anywhere else in Southern Ontario.
“Minister, you have completely bungled your own file. From the microFIT fiasco to your smart meter tax machines to your offshore wind farm backtrack, Ontario families are paying for your incompetence,” Yakabuski fired back. “The billion-dollar Big Becky project is projected to cost another $600 million, and you’ve spent $116 million to build transmission lines for it. Now you’re saying you don’t even know if the power Big Becky produces will go anywhere because the towers are being held hostage in Caledonia.
“The Premier, in a scrum today, unbelievably said this is the first he’s ever heard of that problem. Can you believe it? Is this another one of your billion-dollar boondoggles that will stick Ontario families with the bill?”
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Electricity Infrastructure
Mr. John Yakabuski: My question is for the Minister of Energy. On Monday, Minister, you said the towers being held hostage at Caledonia were not part of the plan to transmit hydro from Big Becky, but the website of your own government agency says it is. Yesterday you got caught and were forced to admit that it was part of the plan all along. Then you dodged questions over whether these towers were critical to the Big Becky project.
Either you don’t understand your file, or you attempted to mislead this House. Which one is it?
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I ask the honourable member to withdraw the comment he just made.
Mr. John Yakabuski: Withdrawn.
Hon. Brad Duguid: In answer to that question, the member has no idea what he’s talking about. Hydro One stopped work on the Niagara transmission reinforcement project in 2006 in order to remove any possible obstacle to a resolution of that process. The line being constructed is to strengthen our interconnection with the state of New York at Niagara Falls, not to transmit power from the Niagara Tunnel. At present, this situation does not impact reliability in that area or anywhere else in southern Ontario.
We’ll continue to work with Six Nations and the surrounding communities at building stronger partnerships that can lead to peace and reconciliation in that community. The PC approach clearly is to try to stir things up in that community. It’s irresponsible. It indicates they’ve learned nothing from the shame that their party brought to the people of this province as a result of Ipperwash.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?
Mr. John Yakabuski: Minister, you have completely bungled your own file. From the microFIT fiasco to your smart meter tax machines to your offshore wind farm backtrack, Ontario families are paying for your incompetence. The billion-dollar Big Becky project is projected to cost another $600 million, and you’ve spent $116 million to build transmission lines for it. Now you’re saying you don’t even know if the power Big Becky produces will go anywhere because the towers are being held hostage in Caledonia.
The Premier, in a scrum today, unbelievably said this is the first he’s ever heard of that problem. Can you believe it? Is this another one of your billion-dollar boondoggles that will stick Ontario families with the bill?
Hon. Brad Duguid: I find the PCs’ continual efforts to stir things up in Caledonia put on display, frankly, their true lack of moral fibre. This party left our transmission and distribution systems in a state of decay—
Interjections.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Stop the clock. The member from Renfrew is about to jump up on a point of order. I can honestly tell you that because of the interjections that were taking place I did not hear a—
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I don’t need help from the member from Nepean.
I didn’t hear a comment because I could not hear because of the noise. Minister, if you said something that was of a nature that caused some disruption in the House, I would just ask that you withdraw it, please.
Hon. Brad Duguid: I didn’t think it was offensive, but if it offended anybody I withdraw it. I’m happy to withdraw it.
That party left our transmission distribution system in a state of decay. They opposed our efforts to invest $7 billion since 2003 and to upgrade 5,000 kilometres of transmission line. They oppose our efforts to build a line from Bruce to Milton. They oppose our plans to invest in the Pickle Lake line, the east-west tie, and strengthen the southwestern Ontario grid.
It’s rather interesting, though, that there’s only one transmission line in the entire province that party wants us to move on quicker, and it just happens to be a line that runs through a sensitive area in dispute with Six Nations—
For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at
(519) 428-0446 or (905)-765-8413, 1-800-903-8629