SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Hon. Todd Smith

  • MPP
  • Member of Provincial Parliament
  • Bay of Quinte
  • Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
  • Ontario
  • Unit 8 5503 Hwy. 62 S Belleville, ON K8N 0L5 Todd.Smithco@pc.ola.org
  • tel: 613-962-1144
  • fax: 613-969-6381
  • Todd.Smithco@pc.ola.org

  • Government Page
  • Oct/4/23 11:30:00 a.m.

Let me first start by saying that we are very fortunate in Ontario to have an electricity system that is 90% clean, among the cleanest electricity systems not just in North America but in the entire world. Our intention is to keep it that way because it’s attracting new investment into our province.

When the NDP and the Liberals teamed up previously and we saw electricity prices soaring, we saw communities that had energy projects forced into their communities—we changed that in 2018 when we became the government. We gave municipalities the ability to make decisions on what would be located in their project.

In the case of Thorold that the member opposite mentions, we won’t be putting a new gas plant in that community, because the members of that council voted no to that. Having said that, we are at the peak of our nuclear refurbishment process here in Ontario, and we’re going to need to ensure that we have the power for all the growth that we’re seeing.

I look forward to the supplementary.

We are investing in energy efficiency programs, the conservation demand management programs. We have a billion dollars in that four-year framework, and we’re out consulting with municipalities and other stakeholders on a new CDM energy efficiency program for Ontario.

But we saw the track record of the Liberals and the NDP teaming up on energy policy. For many years, electricity prices were soaring in this province, out of control. Manufacturing jobs were leaving for other jurisdictions. Since we became the government, we’ve seen 700,000 new manufacturing jobs coming to Ontario. Why is that? It’s largely because of energy policy that makes sense, that’s predictable, that’s affordable and reliable, something you won’t get with those—

Interjections.

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