Hydro tax rebate will be permanent, Wynne promises

Wynne now says hydro tax rebate of 8 per cent will be “permanent”

TheStar.com
Sept. 14, 2016
By Rob Ferguson

The promised 8 per cent tax rebate on hydro bills will be “permanent,” Premier Kathleen Wynne vowed Wednesday after two days of questions about how long the relief will last.

New Democrats had raised concerns the pledge sounded more like a temporary gimmick to win votes before the spring 2018 provincial election and Progressive Conservatives warned the cut wouldn’t tackle the underlying reasons for skyrocketing electricity prices.

“This is a permanent change, and no matter the spin that the leader of the third party wants to put on it, we are making this a permanent change,” Wynne said in an exchange with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

But Horwath said she remains skeptical because the Liberal government isn’t entering negotiations with the federal government to have hydro bills exempted from the harmonized sales tax.

Instead, the rebate of the 8 per cent provincial portion of the 13 per cent HST will be on monthly hydro bills - a method the government chose as a quicker solution than negotiating with the feds.

“They’re putting a temporary rebate in place that is subject to the whim of this very government or any future government,” Horwath maintained.

“The HST should never have been put on the hydro bills in the first place.”

The rebate will cost the provincial treasury $1 billion a year, with the money coming from increased tax revenues from the growing economy, said Finance Minister Charles Sousa, who on Tuesday repeatedly evaded questions on how long the rebate would be in place.

Opposition parties noted the Liberal government scrapped a 10 per cent break on hydro bills just last January by winding up the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit program, only to promise new relief this week.

“This is not a temporary measure, unlike what was provided before with the Ontario energy benefit,” Sousa said Wednesday.

During a morning appearance at Central Tech, Wynne acknowledged criticisms that the hydro tax rebate is only a partial solution to the high bills ratepayers are facing.

“Does it solve the entire problem? No … there are continued burdens. But to do nothing, it would not be consistent with our government’s perspective.”

She declined to comment on a 60-day notice of intent from the Canadian Union of Public Employees to file a lawsuit against the government to stop the partial privatization of Hydro One.

“We’ll have to let the judicial process unfold,” said Wynne, who defended the sale of an expected $9 billion in shares fund debt reduction and public transit improvements.

About 30 per cent of the shares have been sold to date.

“We feel we must take every possible avenue open to us,” said CUPE vice-president Fred Hahn, one of many critics of the sale who fears the deal will put further pressure on hydro rates.

“It’s not too late to maintain public control.”

A lawsuit has not yet been filed. Under law, anyone planning to sue the government must provide 60 days’ notice.

Polls have suggested about 80 per cent of Ontarians are opposed to the Hydro One sale.