"Stop the Taxman" – Yakabuski

THUNDER BAY – Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MPP and Ontario PC Energy Critic, John Yakabuski, unveiled Dalton’s Lemonade Stand recently to contrast the Ontario PC’s stand on energy pricing with what the PCs say are “Dalton McGuinty’s out-of-touch energy policies that defy economic sense”. Yakabuski says, “Every kid who runs a lemonade stand knows you can’t buy lemons for 80 cents and sell the lemonade for five cents. But it’s a simple point that’s lost on this out-of-touch Premier.”

While Dalton McGuinty believes that providing subsidies of up to 80 cents for 5 cent power is a good deal, Yakabuski said Ontario families, and even kids, can see the fault in his logic. Yet that is only the first example of Dalton McGuinty’s costly energy mistakes. Under Dalton McGuinty, rates have skyrocketed 150 percent for families with smart meters. Families will pay more for a $7 billion deal with Samsung made behind closed doors. And Dalton “The Tax Man” McGuinty even added the HST to home hydro bills.

“Under Dalton McGuinty, hydro rates have increased eight times since 2003 by a total of 84 percent, or a whopping 150 percent for families with activated smart meters,” stated Yakabuski. “Despite promising Ontario families that his expensive energy experiments and Green Energy Act would only raise rates by 1 percent, Dalton McGuinty admitted in last year’s Fall Economic Update that bills will rise an additional 46 percent by 2015”.

“That’s why the Ontario PCs, led by Tim Hudak, have changebook—their plan to put families first,” continued Yakabuski. “With changebook, a Tim Hudak government will provide $275 in immediate relief for families by removing the HST from hydro and home heating bills, removing the Debt Retirement Charge from hydro bills, and unplugging the mandatory smart meter tax machines”.

“On October 6th, there is a clear choice. More waste and mismanagement from Dalton McGuinty or change that respects Ontario families and puts money back in their pocket, with an Ontario PC government led by Tim Hudak,” concluded the Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MPP.