For Immediate Release:
May 19, 2010
Queens Park – Opposition Environment Critic Toby Barrett asked what people can expect to pay following the introduction of government’s new Water Opportunities Act.
“I’m concerned that people won’t be able to afford this McGuinty water bill if they’re required to, because of pricing, use less water if there is a price hike, a fee hike or a tax hike, so we’ll see on that one,” Barrett cautioned. “This could be a warning, obviously, for residential users, industrial users, farmers with water-taking permits and farmers dependent on irrigation-based agriculture – I think of carrots, potatoes, obviously, tobacco.”
Barrett went on to point out that while there has been much fanfare in the runup to the legislation’s introduction, there has been little talk about the final price-tag.
“The cost: What will McGuinty’s water bill add up to? We know that former health minister Caplan’s water and sewer private member’s bill would add something like an additional $600 a year on the bill,” reported Barrett. “The proof is in the pudding. We’ll just see how much this will cost people and how it works out.”
Barrett went on to acknowledge that while clean water is a key priority for all, there are legislative and regulatory systems that have been set up previously that already serve many of the priorities announced in the Water Opportunities Act.
“We recognize and we understand that clean water is essential to the health and success of a thriving and prosperous Ontario,” Barrett concluded. “For these reasons our former government, for decades, really, committed to enacting water legislation, regulation, the recommendations of O’Connor-the commitment to the centre of excellence in Walkerton – We put forward the Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act some eight years before this bill.”
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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at
(519) 428-0446 or (905)-765-8413, 1-800-903-8629
Water supply
Mr. Toby Barrett: I have about two and a half minutes to respond to a water bill promising to make us a North American leader. We’d better run that one by Obama’s Buy America procurement policy.
I got a copy of the bill. My staffer was locked out of the announcement this morning, although I did read about this in the Saturday Star. Robert Benzie quotes a Liberal insider: “This will help people to save money on their water bills,” said the senior high-ranking insider.
That could be worrisome. I’m concerned that people won’t be able to afford this McGuinty water bill if they’re required to, because of pricing, use less water if there is a price hike, a fee hike or a tax hike, so we’ll see on that one. This could be a warning, obviously, for residential users, industrial users, farmers with water-taking permits and farmers dependent on irrigation-based agriculture. I think of carrots, potatoes, obviously, tobacco.
The cost: What will McGuinty’s water bill add up to? We know that former health minister Caplan’s water and sewer private member’s bill would add something like an additional $600 a year on the bill. We recognize and we understand that clean water is essential to the health and success of a thriving and prosperous Ontario, but there’s little doubt that as the international community puts a greater emphasis on clean water, they, too, will understand the significance of the expertise that resides in this great province, the expertise that resides in China, for example, and elsewhere.
For these reasons our former government, for decades, really, committed to enacting water legislation, regulation, the recommendations of O’Connor-the commitment to the centre of excellence in Walkerton. We put forward the Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act some eight years before this bill.
The proof is in the pudding. We’ll just see how much this will cost people and how it works out.