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`Prudent' plan to deal with hydro rates: Brown by Nathan Howes Oakville Beaver Staff 5 | Thursday, April 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "It' s putting a bandage on a bullet hole." That' s what Ontario Official Opposition and Ontario Conservative Party Leader Patrick Brown calls the governing Liberals' recent Fair Hydro Plan to reduce electricity rates for residents and businesses alike. His comments to the Oakville Beaver Tuesday April 18, followed his presentation at the Oakville Chamber of Commerce breakfast. The sold-out event drew an attendance of 192 people at the Glen Abbey Golf Club. The gathering was Brown' s first public address to the Oakville Chamber, its members and the local business community, and included his keynote address and a moderated questionand-answer-period with the Simcoe North MPR The provincial Liberals and NDP released their own plans to cut hydro rates by a certain percentage (up to 25 and 30 per cent, respectively). Brown stated his party has a structural plan to address hydro. He noted it' s standard for political parties to release their platforms closer to an election date, something the Conservative Party will do just ahead of the June 2018 election. "What w e're not going to do is a game of showmanship where people pick numbers out of thin air that aren' t realistic, that aren' t based on evidence," said Brown. Patrick Brown | Metroland Media He called the NDP' s proposal "pie-in-the-sky factitious" and described his party' s structural proposal as prudent and well thought out. Among the requests in the plan are to ask the Province to stop the "fire sale" of Hydro One; reduce compensation for executives; end bad contracts associated with the Green Energy Act; and stop new deals for electricity generation. In 2016, Ontario produced "way more than we need" ,, -- 145 TWh (terra-watt), but it only used 137 TWh, excluding renewables, Brown said, suggesting energy is "given away" to the United States, while charging Ontarians for it. "That' s where we really differ from the NDP and the Liberals, where they' ve supported the Green Energy Act and they support these bad contracts.. .we don' t and w e're going to stop that practice," said Brown. He also charged the NDP and Liberals' hydro plans "do not nothing for businesses. It does nothing with this Global Adjustment (rate)." For companies, they can become more competitive if Ontario used its clean water power, rather than "spilling it," Brown told the Beaver, and called the Province' s $1.9 billion cap-and-trade a revenue grab. "I passionately care about the environment. I believe climate change is man-made and w e have to do something about it. But I don' t believe governments should use that as an excuse to tax and fleece the public," said Brown. "If it' s really about the environment, why does the government need to get $2 billion? Anything collected should be given back to the public, in broad-based tax relief, making businesses, like the members of the Chamber more competitive." Electricity is an issue the Conservatives have been focusing on for the last "seven, eight years" at Queen' s Park, Brown said, and not just in recent months because voters have taken issue with it. "Do I think the Liberals and NDP are doing damage control on this right now? Absolutely. We're going to continue to be the party that makes promises we can honour, that makes policies based on sound evidence... and frankly, that' s not what we're seeing right now," said Brown. In his prepared remarks, the Official Opposition leader said nearly 600,000 Ontario families were unable to pay their hydro bills. Hydro costs have also resulted in companies relocating to other provinces or to the United States, Brown charged. "Now, in the 11th hour before an election, the government releases its hydro scheme, which really is just a borrowing scheme. Frankly, borrowing money that is not fixing the structural problems w e face in hydro," said Brown. Brown also touched on Ontario' s 2017 budget, infrastructure needs, red tape and housing affordability issues in his presentation. On the latter, he cited a RE/MAX market outlook report suggesting Oakville housing costs increased by 25 per cent in 2016, jumping to an average cost of about $1.1 million, while prices are expected to climb another five per cent this year. "This is a real challenge. The dream of home ownership is becoming just that -- a dream that is out of reach," said Brown. "Families deserve to see a credible plan to address housing affordability crisis in Ontario." IN J U R E D ? I C a n H e lp ! 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