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MINISTER NOT PROTECTING CONSUMERS WITH ENERGY POWER GRAB |
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Monday, 02 March 2009 07:18 |
Monday 2 March 2009
Ms. Lisa MacLeod: My question is for the Minister of Consumer Services. Dalton McGuinty's power grab will be catastrophic for consumers. Energy bills could be 30% higher. Consumer choice will be eliminated. The minister will pick our energy consumption for us. Rates alone will increase from 5.5 cents to 46 cents; that's nine times higher. The bill overrules contract law and title law by favouring renewable energy projects over real property agreements. Finally, it establishes the toaster police, who have vast search-and-seizure powers on household appliances, and if you get in their way, you might face $25,000 in fines. I can't believe that you, as Minister of Consumer Services, would allow this. Were you consulted on the bill? If not, why not? And if so, how could you let this bill pass, as Minister of Consumer Services?
Hon. Harinder S. Takhar: To the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, please.
Hon. George Smitherman: I'm pleased to have an opportunity to address some of the misinformation that the honourable member has offered. Firstly, on this very last point that the honourable member has made, I do want to make note that any inspection powers that were proposed in the bill were identical to those from the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act of 2002. Certainly if the honourable member reads the bill, she'll see that there is no warrantless search opportunity as has been speculated upon.
More to the point, the honourable member is just plain wrong with respect to the numbers. She's operating on the idea that we're going to stop using Niagara Falls, we're going to close down our nuclear plants and we're going 100% renewables, when to the contrary, what we're seeking to do is enhance the proportion somewhat of renewable energy in our supply mix. Over a 15-year period with the investments that are anticipated, we see about a 1% increase on people's bills related to the Green Energy Act.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?
Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I didn't realize that the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure actually got a new portfolio for consumer protection.
To the Minister of Consumer Services: You have some explaining to do. This is the biggest threat to consumer protection in this province's history-more taxes, more bureaucrats, more government intrusion onto real property. How can any of that be good for Ontario's consumers? Enough is enough. Will the Minister of Consumer Services educate the Minister of Energy on the consequences consumers will face as the result of this power grab? Will he stand up for consumers so they won't face skyrocketing energy increases at a time when we can ill afford to raise anyone's standard-of-living expenses?
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