For Immediate Release
February 26, 2009
DALTON SAYS ?DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO?
Dalton McGuinty backtracks on hydro taxes, charges PC MPP Peter Shurman
(Queen?s Park) ? Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman today demanded to know why Dalton McGuinty has deserted his own position not to pay for his policies on the backs of Ontarians. In 1991, McGuinty opposed additional hydro taxes during a recession, but last week his government introduced a piece of legislation that does just that.
?Like the Ontario of 1991, the Ontario of today is in tough economic times with a government that thinks it can spend its way out of the mess,? Shurman pointed out. ?Back then, an opposition member admonished the big-spending government for saddling another tax on struggling Ontario businesses. That member was Dalton McGuinty and today he?s done a 180 degree u-turn.?
Shurman quoted McGuinty from a debate on Bill 118 in 1991 saying, "We have got to question the wisdom of the minister in introducing a bill in a recession which is saying to employers and investors, ?Here comes an additional tax which we're going to tack on to your hydro bill.??
The Liberals introduced their Green Energy Act this week, pricing the initial cost at $5 billion. With 4.2 million electricity consumers in Ontario, the cost adds up to an extra $1,200 per consumer.
?Dalton McGuinty knows exactly what a bill like his Green Energy Act will do to Ontario. It will hike up energy costs for businesses, scare away investors and stifle job growth. It will keep Ontarians looking for jobs unemployed and keep food off their tables,? said Shurman.
?Your Premier has said, ?... there is a direct correlation between hydro rates and our rate of unemployment in Ontario. As the rates go up, so will the rate of unemployment.? Yet, you have introduced a pick-pocket bill, one that will surely increase the cost of power,? Shurman told Energy Minister George Smitherman during Question Period. ?Justify pick pocketing taxpayers at this time, Minister.?
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For more information:
Monika Bujalska
Executive Assistant
Office of Peter Shurnman, MPP-Thornhill
(416) 325-2505
monika.bujalska@pc.ola.org