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Gold/Mining/Energy : Hydro One - IPO -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Sladek who wrote (15)	4/24/2002 4:16:45 PM
From: John Sladek	Respond to of 52

April 22, 2002 - McGuinty calls on securities commission to block Hydro One sale TORONTO (CP) -- Ontario's Opposition has asked the provincial securities regulator to block the government's planned sale of the province's electricity grid. The request by Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty comes after Friday's Superior Court ruling that the province has no legal authority to sell Hydro One. "(Premier) Ernie Eves can't sell Hydro One without a sign-off from the (Ontario Securities Commission)," McGuinty said Monday. "If Ernie Eves won't do the right thing, the OSC must." In a letter to the chairman of the commission, McGuinty notes the OSC must issue a "receipt" to allow the government to offer its shares in the utility to the public. McGuinty wants that approval withheld. However, the commission said McGuinty's request was premature because the government has not yet submitted a final prospectus for the share offering and receipts aren't issued on a preliminary prospectus. "So there's nothing to the letter," said commission spokesman Eric Pelletier. It's up to the province to make any changes before submitting a final prospectus, he said. "We need to hear from them what their intentions are," said Pelletier. "The ball is in their court." The government has not indicated whether it will appeal the ruling by Justice Arthur Gans or pass legislation that would allow the sale. Eves has said the privatization will go ahead, but conceded the ruling will likely delay those plans. The premier had no direct comment on McGuinty's request to the commission. "This is a matter of great public importance, so the premier has asked the attorney general to review the (court) decision in detail and provide he and the cabinet with options," an aide said on Monday. The government had planned to issue an initial public offering of shares in Hydro One in June in what was expected to be the largest such privatization in Canadian history -- worth about $5 billion. Proceeds from the sale, which has been repeatedly delayed in recent years, would go toward paying down the $21-billion debt racked up by the old Ontario Hydro monopoly. Hydro One is one of three major companies created when the Ontario government broke up the monopoly in the late 1990s. But at the request of two unions, Gans ruled the legislation allows the government only to hold shares in the company, not sell them. In his letter, McGuinty warned he would fight any legislative efforts by Eves to pursue the sale. The province's New Democrats, long opposed to both the privatization of Hydro One and the deregulation of the province's electricity generation on May 1, have also said they would fight the sale. In a release on Monday, NDP Leader Howard Hampton announced a stepped-up campaign against the moves under the slogan, "the power is yours." "As long as we own the assets, it's for the people to decide whether or not they should be privatized," said Hampton. "It's still possible for Ontario citizens to stop this." Critics have argued the deregulation and privatization will inevitably lead to sharply higher prices and possible power shortages. They also say the public has never had a chance to pass judgment on the government's plans or to voice its concerns. canoe.ca