Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I appreciate the opportunity to debate here. May I just move away from my script for one moment. The previous member called my female colleague from Dufferin-Caledon "this one" and he called my female colleague from Parkdale-High Park somebody who is always negative. I think that he should consider his words in targeting the women in our caucuses in the opposition.

Let me stick to my script because I do have grave concerns about this legislation as the official opposition critic for consumer services. This is a power grab. It's also a tax grab, and it could be considered one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation to impact consumer protection in this province's history. I'm disappointed that last week, when asking a question of the minister responsible for consumer affairs, instead of standing up and answering a question related to consumer issues in this chamber, on this bill, he sat down, he remained silent, he referred the question. It is his responsibility, as Minister of Consumer Services, to stand up and take notice. I think myself and my colleagues in the official opposition, and I imagine my colleagues in the third party, are quite concerned that this is an omnibus bill which will impact several different ministries and several more pieces of legislation.

This legislation is being forced through this chamber without adequate public debate. This bill, this tax and power grab, ought to be approached not only as an energy and environment bill but also as an economic bill. It should be looked at in the context of the current economic climate and what it will mean to the everyday taxpayers, homeowners and of course the consumers who use electricity in this province.

Specifically, this power grab will come at a significant cost to consumers. Let me explain. The cost of Mr. McGuinty's power grab is $5 billion over three years just to update transmission alone. This means that Ontario's 4.2 million electricity consumers could see a 30% increase in their electricity bills. Home energy audits are a key component of Dalton McGuinty's power grab. This scheme alone will cost homeowners an extra $300 if they choose to sell their home. Warrant inspections and search and seizure are all aspects of Dalton McGuinty's power grab. The toaster police don't even have to notify a homeowner when applying for a warrant to search and seize energy-inefficient household appliances. Interfering in Dalton McGuinty's energy search-and-seizure scheme is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000.

We currently pay 5.5 cents for energy, but Mr. McGuinty's power grab will force us to pay for more expensive wind and solar electricity, which could be as much as nine times the price. Mr. McGuinty's power grab creates more expensive government programs that will be passed on to taxpayers by increased monthly bills from their gas and hydro companies. Instead of directly raising taxes, the Green Energy Act will force gas and hydro companies to raise their rates, and consumers will be the ones paying for these Liberal pet projects. Mr. McGuinty's power grab will also increase the size of the bureaucracy by creating one more government agency. It will interfere in decisions made by consumers on the power that they purchase by allowing the government to order any consumer to change their habits. The jobs created by Mr. McGuinty's power will largely be public sector.

This legislation, this power grab, is a threat to consumer protection. It is the worst possible set of policies to be brought forward during an economic downturn. There have been many criticisms on this power grab, ranging from the Ontario Federation of Labour to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. In all, the critics see this power grab for what it is: "A waste of time and money when the province should be focusing on ... the economy," as the Ottawa Citizen wrote on February 25, 2009.

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Let me share some of the very concerns people across Ontario have over this legislation. Wayne Samuelson of the Ontario Federation of Labour says, "It needs to be part of a ... broader economic package that includes infrastructure spending, support for people who need help...." Mr. Samuelson and I rarely see eye to eye, but I agree with him on this point. At a time of economic distress, I am concerned that hiking rates, raising taxes and growing the bureaucracy are the very last approaches we should take. But also, if you're going to implement any approach of this kind, there needs to be a plan. Instead, this bill is part of a series of one-offs that will only exacerbate the pain that this province is currently going through. For example, Kevin Gaudet of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says, "It's a new green tax." There may be disagreement about what the best way is to respond to challenging economic times, but the one area on which there is no disagreement is the issue of raising costs, fees and taxes: This is exactly the wrong time.

In a nutshell, this power grab will leave most consumers powerless when dealing with their energy prices, because they are going to skyrocket. One specific measure which has been panned by consumers is the energy efficiency audit, which will cost them at least $300. This will cost homeowners much more than $300 on the face value alone. The demand for those people who are offering the audits will increase, but as Gerry Weir of the Ontario Real Estate Association says, "It's not the initial cost of these audits that concerns us. These audits will be used by homebuyers as bargaining chips to significantly reduce the final selling price." This is an important point, because the government of Ontario under Dalton McGuinty has now become a major player in Ontario's real estate market. Caveat emptor, let the buyer beware, because, as Weir points out, "Home sellers are already worried about lost equity in their homes. A move like this, which will reduce their value even further, will not help them in any way." This power grab, quite simply, not only will come on the backs of homeowners across the province, but there is also a high level of unpredictability in the Liberals' energy plan.

You will recall that the Liberals once promised to eliminate coal-fired plants by 2007. It is now 2009, and they have not met that target. They are now aiming for 2014. As Guy Holburn of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario says, "We have had a new minister pretty much every year. Each minister has his or her own preferences and issues new directives and abandons the previous plans. This creates a climate of uncertainty within the sector, which scares off developers."

The one certainty there is is that this is a power grab. It centres around one minister, the minister of everything, and in total, 20-some acts within 15-some ministries will be amended. Troublesome still is that this power grab will allow the minister more influence in how renewable energy projects move forward. One concern that I have in meeting with stakeholders, and this is why, I think, at the end of the day-the question that our critic and our deputy leader asked very early on when this piece of legislation moved forward-it should actually go to the public. It is an omnibus bill. As I said, it is quite extensive in how many different acts it will open up and it is quite extensive in how many ministries it will impact. We must consider the fact that it will override existing title laws, contract laws, condominium bylaws and municipal bylaws. This is sweeping power for the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, one of which I think the consequences have not yet been determined. I know that many people will approach this as an energy bill, and I encourage them to do so. I am focusing on it as the critic for consumer protection. In the consumer protection area, this is a failure, and I would urge the minister responsible for consumer protection and the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure himself to figure out how we can best protect consumers with this piece of legislation.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I want to thank my colleagues from Parkdale-High Park, Oshawa, the Minister of Agriculture and, of course, the former Minister of the Environment, the member from Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

I appreciate the opportunity. I think that by prolonging this debate we're bringing much-needed attention to this piece of legislation. Again, I would reiterate my calls for extensive public hearings on this piece of legislation. I also firmly believe we must travel the province, because it will impact so many different pieces of legislation.

I do have a serious concern with the number the Liberals have used in terms of how many jobs they believe will be created. I do not believe it will be as high as 50,000. I also believe that many of those jobs will be public service jobs, and that is not what Ontario needs right now. Ontario needs private sector jobs, well-paying jobs, and we need to start getting those 71,000 jobs that we lost in the month of January back here in the province of Ontario.

I want to make a comment with respect to what I heard from the Minister of Agriculture but also from my colleague from Oshawa. He was pointing out some of the criticisms for this bill. I appreciate the minister bringing forward the OFA's endorsement of the legislation, but, sadly, that is just one voice. There are several other voices that she seems to be uninformed of, and they range from the Ontario Federation of Labour to the Ontario Taxpayers Federation. They come from the Ontario Real Estate Association; they come from the Canadian title registries.

There are serious concerns with this legislation that we must look at, not only in terms of the power grid and how we are producing energy in this province but also in how we can ensure that, for example, title law, contract law, agreements between individuals, municipal bylaws and condominium bylaws are all protected. We also must remember that this is going to impact the taxpayer severely. We must look at it also in that context.

We have some time. I urge the Liberals to work with us.