Oshawa Mayor John Henry recently told the Oshawa Express, “The cost
of energy is destroying the economy of Ontario.”
Kathleen Wynne has admitted it was a “mistake” to so radically reshape Ontario’s power industry that people have to decide between buying food or paying their electricity bill. Even more, she has accepted the blame personally. In a confessional moment on the weekend, she confided: “I take responsibility as leader for not paying close enough attention to some of the daily stresses in Ontarians’ lives. Electricity prices are the prime example.”
It’s worth noting that Wynne offered her mea culpa not to the people of Ontario, i.e. the ones paying the usurious bills that drop through the mail slot, but to fellow Liberals meeting to discuss party issues, who were no doubt concerned at the government’s plummeting popularity.
A few more months scraping along below 20% approval and serious re-election doubts might arise. So Wynne’s admission may be an attempt to reassure agitated party colleagues as much as a show of remorse towards the great unwashed — or in this case the great unheated.
Repentance in any form is not to be sneered at, so perhaps we should not carp about when and where the premier made her confession. And in truth she was too hard on herself: yes, Ontario’s power industry, once widely admired for its reliability, efficiency and affordability, has become an unholy mess under the Liberal regime.
But Wynne is not solely to blame: 13 years of dunderheaded policies, initiated by former premier Dalton McGuinty and implemented by a series of ministers at various levels of arrogance and ineptitude, contributed to the disaster. (The latest energy minister is currently facing calls to resign over the Sudbury byelection scandal and ensuing allegations of bribery). And you don’t need any greater evidence that it’s become a fiasco than the fact the Premier felt compelled to admit it.
For the rest of this column, click here: http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/kelly-mcparland-wynne-admits-that-breaking-hydro-was-a-mistake-ontarians-will-keep-paying-the-price