Graduating students facing untenable economic conditions are about to have it even worse as Ontario readies to sell Hydro One, according to Willem Hart, president of the Campus Conservatives York University.
CCYU is launching its Save Ontario campaign intended to educate York’s students about the Liberal government’s plan to sell Hydro One.
“Hydro rates are already out of control in this province,” says Hart.
“We’ve witnessed over a decade of mismanagement in Ontario’s energy sector, from cancelled gas plants to the Auditor General informing us that ratepayers paid an extra $37 billion dollars between 2006 and 2014,” adds Hart.
York’s Young Liberals president Gazal Amin says the Liberal government has a plan that is fundamentally different from the opposition.
“It is a plan to build Ontario up, grow the economy, and create jobs,” says Amin.
“The Liberal plan includes unlocking the value of assets. This allows for an unprecedented investment in transit and infrastructure, which will support the creation of over 110,000 jobs per year,” she adds.
Hart thinks rising energy costs are particularly relevant for students.
“With hydro rates expected to go up as a result of the private monopoly this sale will create,” says Hart, “students will bear the cost of Kathleen Wynne’s shortsightedness.”
Kevin Noguera, vice president federal with the Young Liberals says the Conservatives are worried, following their party’s poor performance in the federal election.
Previously, the Province of Ontario launched its “Budget Talks” website, where Ontarians can leave a comment as part of ongoing budget consultations. One of the most popular topics is stopping the sale of Hydro One.
Polling conducted by Excalibur indicated that 47.7 per cent of respondents intended to vote Liberal in the last federal election.
“We have a strong mandate and we remain focused to move Ontario forward,” says Noguera.
Campaigning continues with a by-election in Whitby-Oshawa scheduled for February 11. A new Mainstreet/Postmedia poll has Progressive Conservative candidate Lorne Coe in the lead with 49 per cent of decided and leaning voters, with the CCYU helping Coe with his campaign.
Alex Kvaskov, Assistant News Editor
Featured image courtesy of Willem Hart
