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At least now it must be seen as official: Ontario’s electricity regime is a gargantuan fiasco, a dysfunctional, overpriced, mismanaged system that for most of the last decade has been abandoned to the provincial Liberals’ gross incompetence and deliberate abuse of governance.
In strong language and clear analysis leading to straight-shooting conclusions, Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk has delivered one of the most devastating audit reports on government bungling and malpractice in Canadian history.
Ontario consumers and small business owners already know the hard fact: the cost of electricity has almost doubled under the McGuinty/Wynne regimes, from 5.32 cents per kilowatt hour to 10.10 cents, with many more increases to come.
Most of the increased burden on consumers is going to pay for electricity capacity the province doesn’t need. While prices have doubled, electricity production has dropped from 152 terawatt hours in 2007 to 140 in 2014.
There’s much to learn in the report. Mostly importantly, its account of Ontario’s handling of the provincial electricity industry should serve as a red flag to all Canadians.
At a time when governments at all levels are planning to embark on massive infrastructure and climate projects — from mass transit in Toronto to carbon control extravaganzas in Alberta — the electricity report suggests Canada’s political regimes may not be up to the governance levels required.
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