Moody, the credit rating agency has just cut Spain's credit rating and warned that further downward adjustments may be on the way. It strikes me that this should serve as a stark warning to the people of Ontario that Mr. McGuinty's vision for our once great province is deeply flawed.
The model which McGuinty seeks to have us buy into is based around two things.
1. The implementation of a green energy act supported by taxpayer subsidies in the belief that we will create a "new Green economy"
2. Large growth of public sector payrolls with claims of improved services and trickle through benefits to the greater economy.
If you look at Spain they embarked on an almost identical program in advance of Ontario and after spending tens of billions of their tax payers dollars on subsidizing green energy (wind and solar), the facts show that for every 1 job they created they lost 2.3. Their energy costs went through the roof placing strain on their already burdened taxpayers and driving many "real" businesses into financial hardship and making them uncompetitive globally.
Spain's ever burgeoning public sector costs are (like Ontario's) the only area that has truly grown, but this contrary to what Mr McGuinty would have us believe is not a good thing. It is once again the poor taxpayers who have to foot the bill for these services and (contrary to what all the public sector unions would have us believe in their annoying radio ads), the government is not very good at delivering services in a cost effective manner. If we really do need all of these programs ( I personally don't think we do) then let private industry bid for them in a competitive manner so that the taxpayer get value for money.
The ratings agencies are already paying close attention to Ontario's growing deficit and ballooning costs and if Mr McGuinty and his friends continue on their destructive path, it will not ne long before we too start paying more to service that debt load which the liberals have created.
As with all things though Mr. McGuinty like all politicians will not suffer the future effects of his legacy to us in the same manner as the hard working taxpayers as he will be nicely protected by his index linked pensions and benefits.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Green Energy Act just doesn't add up?
Yesterday in Ottawa a bunch of newly installed parking ticket machines which are powered by Solar powered technology froze up due to snow and stopped working!!!!
I guess our leader Mr McGuinty did not consider that it snows a lot in Canada inspite of "global warming" and when it does, So...lar powered systems and Wind farms tend not to work!!!.
Oh dear Dalton, what are we to do on these cold cold days of winter when the icicles are hanging off your wind towers? Fortunately, our old friends at the hydro, coal and nuclear plants manage to keep the power flowing without a problem which begs the question "If we cannot rely on your so called green technology on the days we need it most then why do we need it at all?" It seems our trusty existing sources will for the foreseeable future continue to be the "only" reliable source of energy and Daltons pipedream is just another government boondogle.
I guess our leader Mr McGuinty did not consider that it snows a lot in Canada inspite of "global warming" and when it does, So...lar powered systems and Wind farms tend not to work!!!.
Oh dear Dalton, what are we to do on these cold cold days of winter when the icicles are hanging off your wind towers? Fortunately, our old friends at the hydro, coal and nuclear plants manage to keep the power flowing without a problem which begs the question "If we cannot rely on your so called green technology on the days we need it most then why do we need it at all?" It seems our trusty existing sources will for the foreseeable future continue to be the "only" reliable source of energy and Daltons pipedream is just another government boondogle.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Bill - C49
I guess I shoulld not be totally surprised that Michael Ignatieff has taken a position in opposition to the government on Bill C-49 but I have to say that I am and equally disapointed. It would seem to me that Mr Ignatieff has once again put his ego and his desire to oppose anything that the PM suggests ahead of common sense, the will of the Canadian people and most importantly the security of our nation.
This bill whilst not perfect seeks to ensure that those who try to smuggle people through our borders are dealt with in a firm manner and that our law enforcement teams can detain all the people involved until they can determine their true status and can process the case accordingly. This means that both the smuggler and the person(s) being smuggled will be detained in secure facilities and not be released for processing in the community, which is the part that Mr. Ignatieff takes issue with when he claims that we would be victimizing the victim.
The only problem with his view is that he (nor any of us) cannot possibly know whether the person being smuggled in is indeed a victim of trafficing, or is a in fact a non qualifying illigal immigrant or worse still a criminal or terrorist seeking to gain access to our country for illegal purposes. Our law enforcement staff need to have the powers to hold people until they are properly vetted and dealt with, and if this means that people are held for longer periods of time then as long as we are treating them well by providing a safe and secure environment with proper sanitation and food we have fulfilled our duties. More importantly though we will have given our law enforcers the opportunity to perform their duties in a proper manner by allowing them to keep our borders secure and by discouraging others from attempting to gain illegal access.
Mr. Ignatieff would have us believe that this breaches charter rights, but surely the charter was intended to deal with those that were either born here or have gained fair and legal access through the proper immigration channels into Canada and not simply anyone who turns up and shouts asylum? If we are to follow Mr. Ignatieffs lead then the charter actually applies to every citizen on the face of the earth in which case we may as well simply open our borders and abandon immigration policy altogether by allowing everyone to claim asylum.
The bill as it stands provides incarceration for the smuggler, safety for the smuggled, protection for Canadians and a clear process for our law enforcers. It will discourage people from viewing Canada as a soft target and will ensure that genuine cases are dealt with in an appropriate manner whilst bogus claims are rejected and repatriated at the lowest possible cost to Canadian tax payers.
So come on Mr. Ignatieff, swallow your pride for once and don't simply oppose a bill just because Mr. Harper presented it. Do what is right for the security of Canada and offer your support.
This bill whilst not perfect seeks to ensure that those who try to smuggle people through our borders are dealt with in a firm manner and that our law enforcement teams can detain all the people involved until they can determine their true status and can process the case accordingly. This means that both the smuggler and the person(s) being smuggled will be detained in secure facilities and not be released for processing in the community, which is the part that Mr. Ignatieff takes issue with when he claims that we would be victimizing the victim.
The only problem with his view is that he (nor any of us) cannot possibly know whether the person being smuggled in is indeed a victim of trafficing, or is a in fact a non qualifying illigal immigrant or worse still a criminal or terrorist seeking to gain access to our country for illegal purposes. Our law enforcement staff need to have the powers to hold people until they are properly vetted and dealt with, and if this means that people are held for longer periods of time then as long as we are treating them well by providing a safe and secure environment with proper sanitation and food we have fulfilled our duties. More importantly though we will have given our law enforcers the opportunity to perform their duties in a proper manner by allowing them to keep our borders secure and by discouraging others from attempting to gain illegal access.
Mr. Ignatieff would have us believe that this breaches charter rights, but surely the charter was intended to deal with those that were either born here or have gained fair and legal access through the proper immigration channels into Canada and not simply anyone who turns up and shouts asylum? If we are to follow Mr. Ignatieffs lead then the charter actually applies to every citizen on the face of the earth in which case we may as well simply open our borders and abandon immigration policy altogether by allowing everyone to claim asylum.
The bill as it stands provides incarceration for the smuggler, safety for the smuggled, protection for Canadians and a clear process for our law enforcers. It will discourage people from viewing Canada as a soft target and will ensure that genuine cases are dealt with in an appropriate manner whilst bogus claims are rejected and repatriated at the lowest possible cost to Canadian tax payers.
So come on Mr. Ignatieff, swallow your pride for once and don't simply oppose a bill just because Mr. Harper presented it. Do what is right for the security of Canada and offer your support.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Dear Dalton, Please explain this will you?
Dear Mr. McGuinty,
Try as I might to find a shred of sense in the Ontario Green Energy Act, I have failed miserably so far and wondered if you couldhelp to enlighten me?
I struggle to understand how raising electricity prices (which have already risen dramatically over the past 6 years) by 50% over the next 5 years is going to help create jobs in Ontario? I understand the argument for green jobs and the fact that the act calls for 20% of the equipment content to come from Ontario etc.... But surely the fact will be that any jobs created will be mostly of a construction/installation nature (which is always to be welcomed) and not real manufacturing jobs for the long term?
Now, I know that you will cite the Samsung deal as a prime example, but this is far from a done deal yet as you cannot know how they will react to any future rulling by the World Trade Organization on the legality of Ontario's restrictive practices within the Green Energy Act. Therefore, this lone exmple of possible future job creation is more than offset by the potential downside of the Green Energy Act in terms of job losses caused by increased energy costs.
Only today, Stat's Canada reported a widening of Canada's trade deficit to $17.54Bn which is a clear indicator that already Canadian companies are struggling to compete on a global basis due to a combination of global, currency and productivity factors. The future for job creation looks weak at best and can only be further weakened in Ontario by a plan that further burdens manufacturers with increased operating costs. How can you expect manufacturers to absorb these increases when globablly they are courted by low cost countries and provinces who are all willing to help them relocate in oredr to grab our jobs?
It seems to me Mr. Premier that the only people that really benefit from this energy plan are the operators and manufacturers of these farms (be they solar or wind). The business world does not benefit as they will be even more uncompetitive in the global market. The public do not benefit as we are forced to pay higher rates to subsidize the profits of the companies installing and operating the units. Our children do no benefit as they will suffer the legacy of higher energy prices, higher provincial debt and fewer jobs. Even the claim of cleaner air being the benefit is really just a political smokescreen as the same benefits (which I do support incidentally) could be achieved at a fraction of the cost through hydro, nuclear and clean coal and gas technologies. All of those technologies have proven track records and all are being chosen as the primary solutions all over the world (even in Finland, Denmark, China, India and Spain).
Surely Mr. McGuinty you owe it to the people of our province to stop and rethink this strategy which has been clearly proven to be misguided in other parts of the world and take the time to find a solutions that will make Ontario a low cost place to manufacture goods that we can export?
Try as I might to find a shred of sense in the Ontario Green Energy Act, I have failed miserably so far and wondered if you couldhelp to enlighten me?
I struggle to understand how raising electricity prices (which have already risen dramatically over the past 6 years) by 50% over the next 5 years is going to help create jobs in Ontario? I understand the argument for green jobs and the fact that the act calls for 20% of the equipment content to come from Ontario etc.... But surely the fact will be that any jobs created will be mostly of a construction/installation nature (which is always to be welcomed) and not real manufacturing jobs for the long term?
Now, I know that you will cite the Samsung deal as a prime example, but this is far from a done deal yet as you cannot know how they will react to any future rulling by the World Trade Organization on the legality of Ontario's restrictive practices within the Green Energy Act. Therefore, this lone exmple of possible future job creation is more than offset by the potential downside of the Green Energy Act in terms of job losses caused by increased energy costs.
Only today, Stat's Canada reported a widening of Canada's trade deficit to $17.54Bn which is a clear indicator that already Canadian companies are struggling to compete on a global basis due to a combination of global, currency and productivity factors. The future for job creation looks weak at best and can only be further weakened in Ontario by a plan that further burdens manufacturers with increased operating costs. How can you expect manufacturers to absorb these increases when globablly they are courted by low cost countries and provinces who are all willing to help them relocate in oredr to grab our jobs?
It seems to me Mr. Premier that the only people that really benefit from this energy plan are the operators and manufacturers of these farms (be they solar or wind). The business world does not benefit as they will be even more uncompetitive in the global market. The public do not benefit as we are forced to pay higher rates to subsidize the profits of the companies installing and operating the units. Our children do no benefit as they will suffer the legacy of higher energy prices, higher provincial debt and fewer jobs. Even the claim of cleaner air being the benefit is really just a political smokescreen as the same benefits (which I do support incidentally) could be achieved at a fraction of the cost through hydro, nuclear and clean coal and gas technologies. All of those technologies have proven track records and all are being chosen as the primary solutions all over the world (even in Finland, Denmark, China, India and Spain).
Surely Mr. McGuinty you owe it to the people of our province to stop and rethink this strategy which has been clearly proven to be misguided in other parts of the world and take the time to find a solutions that will make Ontario a low cost place to manufacture goods that we can export?
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Have I seen this "Green Energy Plan" somewhere else?
The internet is a truly amazing thing! The time used to be when our politicians could persuade us that they new better and were more worldly wise than us mere mortals and that we should not trouble ourselves with the details of complex issues such as tax policy and energy planniing. These were best left to government ministers and their staff who had access to information from industry experts to help them make informed decisions. Wow, I get tired just thinking about it!
We, along comes the internet and all of a sudden we can all access the opinions of experts and also see what is being done by governments around the globe to address similar issues and more importantly we can see what works and what does not. In ordinary circumstances this should not be a problem for our politicians as it should make it easier for them to promote their agenndas based on the fact that a well informed electorate should be rushing to embrace their ideas, right?
Well, in the case of Ontario that may not be quite true as our illustrious leader Dalton McGuinty is discovering in recent months. His latest fiasco is the governments "Green Energy Plan" which has been touted as a cornerstone of their platform and a key differentiator between themselves and those old polution hounds the conservatives. McGuinty and his team have continually paraded around the province extolling the cleverness of this made in Ontario plan that was apparently the output of many years of hard work and much consultation with experts.
The problem is that in recent months the plan has been coming under closer scrutiny and appears to be rather badly flawed in many areas. Firstly, the plan pushed headlong towards alternative energy sources such as Solar and Wind and in order to short circuit the normal process of allowing industry to lead, the government decided that it new best and dreamt up a feed-in-tarrif program that would highly incentivise potential operators to come to Ontario. The idea is simple in as much as the operators would be subsidized by Ontario's unlucky taxpayers (and energy consumers) and in return they would create high tech jobs in this new (to Ontario) green industry. The part that Mr. McGuinty and his friends forgot to mention was that this plan wasn't so much a "made in Ontario" plan as a copy of programs tried elsewhere in the world such as Spain, Denmark, Germany....... and that there were clear indicators that the outcome may not be quite what one might hope.
Here are a couple of links to two very interesting cases:
Firstly a couple of videos relating to a CEPOS report on the success (and I use that word very loosely) of their wind energy program and its impact on costs to the consumer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgUsun3hIT0&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpodnV-0LNs
A few background facts for Denmark which are interesting warnings for Ontario are that as a result of its experiment it has ended up with the highest energy costs in Europe and this cost has reportedly had a negative impact on employment and other "non Green" businesses. It shoulld be noted that CEPOS who report in the video did get funding from the Institute for Energy Research which does recieve some funding from conventional energy companies.
The second video relates to Spain's "Green Energy" plan which was supposed to create a booming and high tech economy around its "investment" in green energy. Once again, the parallels to Mr McGuinty's plan are astounding and the outcome equally disturbing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFaqmHOeNmg
Spains experience has clearly been less than a success. But what amazes me most is that with all the information out there that counsels agaignst the current plan, our leaders still go headlong into it wasting our money as they go.
Once again, this video was created by the IER, so I reiterate that the author may have some negative bias toward green technology but, nonetheless a quick search around Google will find plenty of facts to substantiate the assertions made inn each of the videos.
But enough already! Who wants to talk about problems when there is a new energy policy to announce? So McGuinty etall steamed ahead with their plans despite mounting evidence that they may be on the wrong path. In June, they also dismissed moving forward on a nuclear expansion ignoring evidence that showed it to be the greenest and most reliable low cost solution for Ontario's lon term needs.
Fast forward to November 2010 and Mr. McGuinty's world starts to crumble after his government announces that energy costs will skyrocket 46% over 5 years (Remember the number in the Denmark video?) and to offset this he offers a bribe to consumers (we are coming into an election year) of a 10% reduction in rates over the same period. The next day a poll shows that his government will likely fall at an election and low and behold the energy plan that was so many years in the planning is changed again to now include more incentives on smart meter charging. Details have not quite been worked out yet, but who needs details when we need votes?
Another 24 hours have passed and unfortunately Mr. McGuinty seems as unpopular as ever so its time to rethink the plan again! Today its an announcement that we have decided that nuclear is a key part of the plan and we will embark on a major refit program and buy two new reactors as well.
What next Mr McGuinty? A repeal of the HST?, Reversal of the HealthCare tax that didn't quite get spent on healthcare? Free electric for all?
Yes, the internet is a wonderful thiing! With all this information at our fingertips there really is not a lot of mileage in telling lies when yoou are elected office although it appears that Mr. McGuinty and his team are only just waking up to that fact.
We, along comes the internet and all of a sudden we can all access the opinions of experts and also see what is being done by governments around the globe to address similar issues and more importantly we can see what works and what does not. In ordinary circumstances this should not be a problem for our politicians as it should make it easier for them to promote their agenndas based on the fact that a well informed electorate should be rushing to embrace their ideas, right?
Well, in the case of Ontario that may not be quite true as our illustrious leader Dalton McGuinty is discovering in recent months. His latest fiasco is the governments "Green Energy Plan" which has been touted as a cornerstone of their platform and a key differentiator between themselves and those old polution hounds the conservatives. McGuinty and his team have continually paraded around the province extolling the cleverness of this made in Ontario plan that was apparently the output of many years of hard work and much consultation with experts.
The problem is that in recent months the plan has been coming under closer scrutiny and appears to be rather badly flawed in many areas. Firstly, the plan pushed headlong towards alternative energy sources such as Solar and Wind and in order to short circuit the normal process of allowing industry to lead, the government decided that it new best and dreamt up a feed-in-tarrif program that would highly incentivise potential operators to come to Ontario. The idea is simple in as much as the operators would be subsidized by Ontario's unlucky taxpayers (and energy consumers) and in return they would create high tech jobs in this new (to Ontario) green industry. The part that Mr. McGuinty and his friends forgot to mention was that this plan wasn't so much a "made in Ontario" plan as a copy of programs tried elsewhere in the world such as Spain, Denmark, Germany....... and that there were clear indicators that the outcome may not be quite what one might hope.
Here are a couple of links to two very interesting cases:
Firstly a couple of videos relating to a CEPOS report on the success (and I use that word very loosely) of their wind energy program and its impact on costs to the consumer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgUsun3hIT0&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpodnV-0LNs
A few background facts for Denmark which are interesting warnings for Ontario are that as a result of its experiment it has ended up with the highest energy costs in Europe and this cost has reportedly had a negative impact on employment and other "non Green" businesses. It shoulld be noted that CEPOS who report in the video did get funding from the Institute for Energy Research which does recieve some funding from conventional energy companies.
The second video relates to Spain's "Green Energy" plan which was supposed to create a booming and high tech economy around its "investment" in green energy. Once again, the parallels to Mr McGuinty's plan are astounding and the outcome equally disturbing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFaqmHOeNmg
Spains experience has clearly been less than a success. But what amazes me most is that with all the information out there that counsels agaignst the current plan, our leaders still go headlong into it wasting our money as they go.
Once again, this video was created by the IER, so I reiterate that the author may have some negative bias toward green technology but, nonetheless a quick search around Google will find plenty of facts to substantiate the assertions made inn each of the videos.
But enough already! Who wants to talk about problems when there is a new energy policy to announce? So McGuinty etall steamed ahead with their plans despite mounting evidence that they may be on the wrong path. In June, they also dismissed moving forward on a nuclear expansion ignoring evidence that showed it to be the greenest and most reliable low cost solution for Ontario's lon term needs.
Fast forward to November 2010 and Mr. McGuinty's world starts to crumble after his government announces that energy costs will skyrocket 46% over 5 years (Remember the number in the Denmark video?) and to offset this he offers a bribe to consumers (we are coming into an election year) of a 10% reduction in rates over the same period. The next day a poll shows that his government will likely fall at an election and low and behold the energy plan that was so many years in the planning is changed again to now include more incentives on smart meter charging. Details have not quite been worked out yet, but who needs details when we need votes?
Another 24 hours have passed and unfortunately Mr. McGuinty seems as unpopular as ever so its time to rethink the plan again! Today its an announcement that we have decided that nuclear is a key part of the plan and we will embark on a major refit program and buy two new reactors as well.
What next Mr McGuinty? A repeal of the HST?, Reversal of the HealthCare tax that didn't quite get spent on healthcare? Free electric for all?
Yes, the internet is a wonderful thiing! With all this information at our fingertips there really is not a lot of mileage in telling lies when yoou are elected office although it appears that Mr. McGuinty and his team are only just waking up to that fact.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Shameless McGuinty
So, after a disastrous backlash to the announcement of a combined 46% hydro rate hike and a pre election bribe of a 10% hydro rate cut, it seems that the Ontario Liberal party have no levels to which they will stoop to buy votes.
This morning they announced that they have decided to help Ontario's hydro users out by providing a further rebate in the form of a change to the way smart meters work thereby allowing longer periods at lower rates. Isn't this great????
Well, I guess it would be if it was part of something that resembled a well thought out policy, but when it is clearly just a knee jerk reaction by a bunch of self serving politicians who are clearly not capable of developing an energy plan, let alone running a province then unfortunately, no, its not great!
Once again, our elected officials have shownn their green energy plan is a sham and once again they have shown that they do not care about fiscal responsibility when it comes to sensible use of our tax dollars versus saving their own hides.
This morning they announced that they have decided to help Ontario's hydro users out by providing a further rebate in the form of a change to the way smart meters work thereby allowing longer periods at lower rates. Isn't this great????
Well, I guess it would be if it was part of something that resembled a well thought out policy, but when it is clearly just a knee jerk reaction by a bunch of self serving politicians who are clearly not capable of developing an energy plan, let alone running a province then unfortunately, no, its not great!
Once again, our elected officials have shownn their green energy plan is a sham and once again they have shown that they do not care about fiscal responsibility when it comes to sensible use of our tax dollars versus saving their own hides.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Unplug Dalton McGuinty
I have watched in horror as Dalton McGuinty and his buddies at Queens Park have mismanaged the Ontario economy over the past few years, but I must say that I am astounded at the level of incompetence they display when it comes to the "Green Energy Plan".
For any government to come up with a plan for something as critical as the longterm supply of energy to a province you would expect that the politicians involved would seek input and counsel from real experts throughout the industry and would likely not start the wind down of existing technologies and sources of supply until the plan had been fully developed and the proposed strategy evaluated and understood. In the case of Mr. McGuinty and his team, this was obviously not considered necessary given their superior understanding of all issues when it comes to knowing what is best for Ontarians.
As such, we are now faced with a half baked and I'll conceived energy plan that is already coming apart at the seams before it is fully committed to paper for publication. To say the plan is flawed is a gross understatement as it is likely that if it is fully enacted the only reason that Ontario will produce less polluting gasses in the future will be because most industry (that is not a beneficiary of the taxpayer funded subsidies within this plan) will be leaving the province to setup in more business friendly areas.
This plan has already been shown by their own admission to have us on a path to a 46% increase in energy costs within 5 years and in answer to this astoundingly bad news the political geniuses at the Ontario Liberal party come up with a rebate program to offer a 10% cut in our costs over the same period. The problem with this is that firstly the government has run up such a large deficit since taking office that it will need to borrow the money in order to give us the rebate which means that we will all then be left to deal with the cost of that borrowing (estimated at $6Bn) in future years and no doubt by way of higher taxes. Secondly, this "rebate" doesn't even offset the looming increases anyway and even if it did, it would not change the fact that the higher costs are real and simply being deferred to a future date!
The real issue is that Mr. McGuinty is signing our children up for so called green energy without any evidence that it is actually any greener or even as green than other options that are already proven. And not satisfied with the lack of evidence that this is the right technology he has done deals with the special interest lobbyists that represent the wind and solar power industries to offer rates for the power produced that are ridiculously high and will handicap the growth of business in Ontario for decades.
Now faced with opposition to these bad deals and bad policy and facing an upcoming election in the next year our politicians and the lobby groups are embarking on a campaign of misinformation and deception aimed at confusing the public into believing that these artificial subsidies and these inefficient technologies are actually needed for the greater good and will in time create new high tech jobs in the province. So worried are the lobbyists close to the government such as CANWEA that a PR company has been recruited and is using an innocent sounding name of SUSSEX group to put together plans between eco action groups, government and the wind and solar industries to in their own words " create confusion about the facts" over the next 12 months. They do this solely to protect their own interests in ensuring that government continues to subsidize these programs.
For any government to come up with a plan for something as critical as the longterm supply of energy to a province you would expect that the politicians involved would seek input and counsel from real experts throughout the industry and would likely not start the wind down of existing technologies and sources of supply until the plan had been fully developed and the proposed strategy evaluated and understood. In the case of Mr. McGuinty and his team, this was obviously not considered necessary given their superior understanding of all issues when it comes to knowing what is best for Ontarians.
As such, we are now faced with a half baked and I'll conceived energy plan that is already coming apart at the seams before it is fully committed to paper for publication. To say the plan is flawed is a gross understatement as it is likely that if it is fully enacted the only reason that Ontario will produce less polluting gasses in the future will be because most industry (that is not a beneficiary of the taxpayer funded subsidies within this plan) will be leaving the province to setup in more business friendly areas.
This plan has already been shown by their own admission to have us on a path to a 46% increase in energy costs within 5 years and in answer to this astoundingly bad news the political geniuses at the Ontario Liberal party come up with a rebate program to offer a 10% cut in our costs over the same period. The problem with this is that firstly the government has run up such a large deficit since taking office that it will need to borrow the money in order to give us the rebate which means that we will all then be left to deal with the cost of that borrowing (estimated at $6Bn) in future years and no doubt by way of higher taxes. Secondly, this "rebate" doesn't even offset the looming increases anyway and even if it did, it would not change the fact that the higher costs are real and simply being deferred to a future date!
The real issue is that Mr. McGuinty is signing our children up for so called green energy without any evidence that it is actually any greener or even as green than other options that are already proven. And not satisfied with the lack of evidence that this is the right technology he has done deals with the special interest lobbyists that represent the wind and solar power industries to offer rates for the power produced that are ridiculously high and will handicap the growth of business in Ontario for decades.
Now faced with opposition to these bad deals and bad policy and facing an upcoming election in the next year our politicians and the lobby groups are embarking on a campaign of misinformation and deception aimed at confusing the public into believing that these artificial subsidies and these inefficient technologies are actually needed for the greater good and will in time create new high tech jobs in the province. So worried are the lobbyists close to the government such as CANWEA that a PR company has been recruited and is using an innocent sounding name of SUSSEX group to put together plans between eco action groups, government and the wind and solar industries to in their own words " create confusion about the facts" over the next 12 months. They do this solely to protect their own interests in ensuring that government continues to subsidize these programs.
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