April 23, 2002 - Government denies planned Hydro One sale Tory attempt to deal with deficit
TORONTO (CP) -- Ontario's opposition parties kept up their attack Tuesday on the government's $5-billion plan to sell off the province's electricity grid, with the Liberals accusing the Tories of attempting a quick cash-grab.
The attacks came after Premier Ernie Eves indicated he would rewrite legislation to deal with a court ruling that the government has no authority to privatize Hydro One.
"The Tories, our managers, are facing a budget deficit (and) manager Eves knows that running a deficit is going to make him look silly," Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty said.
"So he's going to do what bad managers always do when their mistakes leave them short of cash: sell something quickly to make the books look a little better."
Finance Minister Janet Ecker, speaking for the government, denied that money raised by the sale of Hydro One, a successor company of the former debt-laden Ontario Hydro, will go into general revenues.
"The commitment that has been made is that the net proceeds that are realized from the sale of Hydro One will be used to help pay down (Ontario Hydro's) debt and all proceeds will stay within the electricity sector," Ecker said.
But McGuinty said the government "is being dishonest" about its plans for the money and also questioned Eves' sincerity about holding public hearings on the sale.
Eves said late Tuesday he would be open to the idea of hearings and would "probably" recommend changing the Electricity Act rather than appealing the Superior Court ruling.
"The legislature is going to have to address the shortcoming that the judge found," Eves said.
"If that's the case, then I don't see any harm in having the public comment."
The NDP accused the Conservative government of ignoring public sentiment but also accused the Liberals party of flip-flopping on the issue.
NDP Leader Howard Hampton produced poll results from the Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey riding where Eves is running in a byelection that suggest strong opposition to both the privatization and deregulation of Ontario's electricity sector.
"This is an issue that is so significant for people across Ontario, not just in the short term but in the long term, that it's a decision that only can be made by the people of Ontario," Hampton said.
"The only public consultation that will suffice is an election."
At the same time, he said he wasn't surprised that the government has yet to respond to the court ruling that has put the brakes on the sell-off.
"The government strategy with respect to hydro privatization is to say as little as possible, to try to keep this issue submerged as much as possible," Hampton said.
He also quoted McGuinty as saying in December that privatizing Hydro One was the right move.
"What exactly is the Liberal position? Because it seems to be shifting," Hampton said.
McGuinty denied any change in position, saying he has always opposed selling the power grid.
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