Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath met with Londoners on Saturday who are concerned about the Liberals’ proposed sell-off Hydro One.
It was part of a public consultation series that the NDP are holding across the province.
Horwath was joined by MPPs Teresa Armstrong from London-Fanshawe and London-West's Peggy Sattler at the Goodwill Industries on Horton Street.
“Ontarians didn’t vote for a sell-off of Hydro One,” said Horwath. “Nobody in London wants their hydro bills to go up, but that’s exactly what will happen if Kathleen Wynne goes ahead with her wrong-headed privatization plans. This is the wrong choice for London and the wrong choice for Ontario,” Horwath stated in a release.
Horwath said the Liberal government has buried the sell-off in its "omnibus" budget bill and wants to see it severed.
"I am calling on Kathleen Wynne to do the right thing and give Ontarians their chance to be heard on Hydro One," Horwath said Friday.
Asked if she would consider Horwath's request, Wynne simply said, "No."
The province plans to sell 60 per cent of the utility, starting with a 15-per-cent initial public offering. The sale is expected to raise about $9 billion, $4 billion of which would be used for infrastructure projects and the rest to pay down hydro debt.
The NDP has been calling for committee hearings on the budget bill to travel the province and hear from Ontarians who can't travel to the legislature. A government spokesman said people are welcome to present to the committee via teleconference or videoconference, as well as written submissions.
There is only one more day of hearings left, then the majority Liberal government will pass its budget bill.
The NDP opposes the sale of Hydro One, saying it gives up strategic control of the province's electricity system and will drive up hydro rates.
