| GREEN ENERGY ACT DEBATE |
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| Sunday, 01 March 2009 19:00 | |||
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Ms. Lisa MacLeod: In response to the pathway and the road to recovery with Barack Obama, I might add, to the two members of the Liberal Party, that they've entered this province onto a slippery slope. I don't need to remind them that their economic track record has taken this province from being the first in economic growth to the worst in Canada, and thanks to them, we're now accepting have-not equalization payments.
But let's get back to their energy home audit, this $300 tax that is going to be faced by all homeowners as a result of this legislation. If Ontarians want to know the real picture, which they will, because this party intends on painting it for them, they could listen to the Ontario Real Estate Association: "Gerry Weir, president of OREA, `warned the audits could end up costing sellers thousands. "`It's not the initial cost of these audits that concerns us,' Weir said in a release. `These audits will be used by homebuyers as bargaining chips to significantly reduce the final selling price.' "Weir said there are no standards or regulations for energy audits in the province today. Without those standards, the result of an energy audit would be meaningless. "The audit could see trivial matters, such as improperly insulated windows, give a homebuyer the opportunity to request $10,000 or more off the asking price of a home by claiming they need to install new windows before they move in." I'll leave you with this: "`Today's economic downturn is a terrible time to introduce this measure. Home sellers are already worried about lost equity in their homes,' said Weir. `A move like this, which will reduce their value even further, will not help them in any way.'" GREEN ENERGY AND GREEN
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