Skip to content

Letter to the Editor: Energy Minister responds to Brown

Provincial Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault fires back at Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown after visit to Thunder Bay earlier this week.
Glenn Thibeault
Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault speaks at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association conference on Friday. (Matt Vis, tbnewswatch.com)

To the Editor:

Patrick Brown was in Thunder Bay (Monday) spreading false information and proving once again he has no real plan for Ontario’s electricity sector. Ontarians deserve better than someone who opposes everything without offering a credible plan of their own.

It’s also no surprise that Patrick Brown is opposed to green energy, as he was at pains to point out during his visit. After all, the Conservatives have always opposed our efforts to move our province away from dirty coal towards cleaner sources of energy. In 2014, we closed our last coal plant in Ontario, marking the completion of the biggest climate change initiative ever undertaken in North America. And yet despite the air we breathe now being cleaner and our electricity system being more reliable than ever, Patrick Brown continues to treat green energy as a boogeyman.

The sad part is that while the Conservatives continue making these wild claims about the electricity sector, they have no plan of their own. Worse, they voted against Ontario’s Fair Hydro Plan. This plan is reducing bills by 25 per cent on average, in part by spreading our investments over a longer time period, more fairly sharing the costs among all those who will benefit. Yet the Conservatives opposed this plan as well, going so far as to vote against this relief for Ontarians. That means they voted “no” to a 25 per cent on average reduction on bills for every household in the province, along with as many as half a million small businesses and farms, “no” to savings of up to 40-50 per cent for rural, remote, or low-income families, and “no” to our plan to hold rates to inflation for four years.

Given Patrick Brown’s track record, it should come as no surprise that he repeatedly refuses to offer anything of substance. Nonetheless, it’s disappointing – Ontarians deserve better.

Glenn Thibeault
Ontario Minister of Energy





push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks