Power Struggle in Ontario: No not for Monetary, Political or Authoritative Reasons - We're Talking Energy

I do not read much of Rex Murphy, but this one was too good to pass up.  Credit due to for his plain anecdotes and comparisons.  

For those not living in Ontario, we are outrageously "taxed" (well, our fearless Premier "The Kathleen" would not call it a tax, but "necessary extra charges" to fund her dictatorship green energy policies and make up for all the contract gaffes of past Liberal energy policy mistakes).  

As an example, after having recently moved back from Vancouver, my BC Hydro usage for a ~1,000 sq ft, two bedroom condo was between $26 to $28 per month.  And the total cost of that usage?.....$26 to $28.  Here in Ontario, the same "usage" becomes approximately three times higher.  Even if I burned candles all month, unhooked all of my appliances, turned the thermostat down and ate out for every meal I would still be on the hook for a fixed amount of say at least $50 to $60/month. (As such, thanks to Premier Wynne, in Ontario we never say "win-win"). 

Rex has a couple of gems, and I would like to quote and give credit to him here...

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/rex-murphy-actually-witchcraft-is-a-pretty-good-explanation-for-all-thats-happening-in-ontario

First up from Rex, "A businesswoman I met recently — on her way, incidentally, to meet with a spiritual adviser — showed me the energy bill for her company. She was distraught and clearly frightened. And with good reason. For very clearly on her bill was a charge for the power she used — the electricity cost. And it was a mere (she employs nearly 40 people) $5,000. There it was on the bill: electricity charges $5,000. But when she forced her wary eyes to the Total Due, the amount had swollen to a terrifying and inexplicable $42,000.  How can this be? she cried… How could the add-ons cost SEVEN times more than the power actually consumed? It was like buying a low-end car for $20,000 and being charged $80,000 for the clock in the dash..."

Secondly, "It occurs to me that witchcraft in Ontario could explain a great many things. The curious gyrations of the Ontario government in its long embrace of its green plans, for one thing….What reason would bring in contracts lasting for decades with built-in guarantees for ludicrously overpriced power? What government would produce power, at great expense, to then sell it at a loss in a virtual voluntary subsidy to the ratepayers of neighbouring jurisdictions? What government would, on the premise of saving the planet, find itself in 2016 cutting off all power to 60,000 homes? What province would so engorge itself with taxes on its power that it now reaches into those same taxes it has extorted under this wild scheme to “rebate” them to the very people its plan has impoverished? It was bad enough when Ontario robbed Peter to pay Paul, now it’s then robbing Paul to pay back what it just stole from Peter..."

My favourite, "Finally, what province would but days ago ladle a couple of hundred million dollars to Ford Motor Company, in part for the building of V8 engines — the very villains of carbon production so decried in all the government’s other proclamations — some of which we may assume will go towards, directly or indirectly, Ford’s inflated power bill. Surely some superior dark force has a hold on Ontario...."

Deficit...Infrastructure Bank...No Matter What It Is Called, the Liberals Are Drunken Sailor Spenders

(from a much earlier post found in "draft" folder that appears I forgot to hit "send") 

See earlier post, "Like Father, Like Son", this elected Canadian federal government is out of touch and out of control.  Yes the Canadian economy is weak and slow to any recovery. Yes we are tied to the US GDP (which is weak and slow). Yes there are tens of thousands of Albertan oil sands workers out of work (I can hear Notley and Mulcair smirking).  Yes the unemployment rate in Canada is 7.0%....yes 7%.0!!!! Yet this government wants to "spend their way out of it" selling an infrastructure financial panacea, increasing immigration levels (unemployment? that's right...7.0%) and pressing on with seasonal foreign workers (remember 7.0%?). The Liberals' drunken sailor spending habits and fictional math skills are a toxic combination for all Canadians.

But if you live in Ontario, you also have Wynne ("The Kathleen") to deal with. One day after hallowe'en and I'm feeling spooked all over again! 

http://www.financialpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/fp-startups/trudeau-woos-investors-with-35-billion-infrastructure-bank&pubdate=2016-11-02

Deficit...Infrastructure Bank...No Matter What It Is Called, the Liberals Are Drunken Sailor Spenders

See earlier post, "Like Father, Like Son", this elected Canadian federal government is out of touch and out of control.  Yes the Canadian economy is weak and slow to any recovery. Yes we are tied to the US GDP (which is weak and slow). Yes there are tens of thousands of Albertan oil sands workers out of work (I can hear Notley and Mulcair smirking).  Yes the unemployment rate in Canada is 7.0%....yes 7%.0!!!! Yet this government wants to "spend their way out of it" selling an infrastructure financial panacea, increasing immigration levels (unemployment? that's right...7.0%) and pressing on with seasonal foreign workers (remember 7.0%?). The Liberals' drunken sailor spending habits and fictional math skills are a toxic combination for all Canadians.

But if you live in Ontario, you also have Wynne ("The Kathleen") to deal with. One day after hallowe'en and I'm feeling spooked all over again! 

http://www.financialpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/fp-startups/trudeau-woos-investors-with-35-billion-infrastructure-bank&pubdate=2016-11-02

Wynne's Shuffle Kerfuffle: More of the Same Nonsense From the Kathleen and For Ontario

news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/robyn-urback-how-many-cabinet-shuffles-would-it-take-to-redeem-ontarios-liberal-government

It has been said the Federal Conservatives were in "too long" (which I wholeheartedly disagree with as a voting consideration or strategy).  Then lets look at Ontario for a second and hope this does not spread to the Federal level. Otherwise at this rate there won't be anything left to spend on those forecasted +$30B deficits.

As published in the National Post...

"... When a government has been in power as long as the Ontario Liberals, it becomes important to mix things up every now and again, lest the narrative of who-screwed-up-what becomes a little too easy to follow. A cabinet shuffle is arguably the best instrument for muddying that narrative, while at the same time providing a diversion from whatever malignant blemish happens to be currently occupying the opposition’s attention (was it the Liberal’s atrociously received “climate change action plan,” or the investigation into Pan Am executives deleting their computer hard drives?).

Premier Kathleen Wynne delivered this diversion Monday, adding seven new members to make a swollen cabinet of 30. Growing the size of the executive council is another shrewd way to steer the discussion toward one about the composition of the cabinet, rather than taking a tough look at the cabinet members themselves, though a larger cabinet does come with the obvious disadvantage of increasing the likelihood that someone will have his or her eyes closed during the executive council “class photo.”

It goes without saying that the most challenging aspect of a good cabinet shuffle is matching the most capable person to the right ministry. Take, for example, the Treasury Board, which has been assigned to former education minister Liz Sandals. During her three years on the education file, Sandals skilfully finagled “net-zero” deals with teachers’ unions that turned out to not actually be “net-zero;” she oversaw millions of dollars in secret payouts to teachers unions, which were only discovered following an investigation by the Globe and Mail; and she literally ran from reporters when the auditor general revealed that the cost to re-open negotiations with teachers in 2013 was $468 million. Those experiences will indeed come in handy for Sandals’ new role as president of the Treasury Board, which is tasked with “leading the government’s efforts on accountability, openness and modernization.” Bring your running shoes, Liz!

Moving on, former citizenship and immigration minister Michael Chan has moved to the new Ministry of International Trade, less than a week after he defended China’s human rights record following a visit by that country’s foreign minister, who berated a Canadian reporter for asking a question about it. As minister of international trade, Chan will be expected to look past all sorts of human rights abuses to see to Wynne’s $2.5 billion worth of agreements with Beijing, all while telling Chinese media that, “the inner meaning of human rights is very broad.” Indeed, we should all take a moment to ponder whether imprisoning dissidents really is a human rights abuse, or if it’s not actually that bad because, as Chan says, China has come a long way compared to where it used to be.

As for the others: Bob Chiarelli moves from energy to infrastructure, which allows him to build instead of just blow money aimlessly; Glenn Thibeault graduates to minister of energy, with the stench of his contentious Sudbury byelection still trailing behind; and Indira Naidoo-Harris takes over the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) file, to work alongside former Pan Am Games CEO Saad Rafi — under whose watchful eye the Games ran $342 million over budget according to a recent report by the auditor general — and has been rewarded for his competency in his former position with a new role leading the ORPP.

Meanwhile, a few familiar faces remain where they are, including Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Eric Hoskins, who will continue to try to embarrass doctors by spilling their earnings during theatrical press conferences, and Deputy Premier Deb Matthews, who adds “minister responsible for digital government” to her title, which suggests she will be tasked with figuring out those pesky hard drives while removing the “delete” button from executive-level  computers. The Liberal government thus offers Ontario the same dysfunctional, scandal-plagued cabinet but arranged in a slightly different order, and a couple more female faces on the executive council to boast about come election time. Hopefully next time the Wynne government plans to stage a diversion, we’ll get more beer options in grocery stores..."