Huron Expositor, 2017-05-31, Page 44 Huron Expositor • Wednesday. May 31, 2017
Huron��°Expositor Rules? What rules?
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We acknowledge the 111.1
financial support of the anacla
Government of Canada.
IPremier Kathleen Wynne
wants to run an open and
transparent government,
as she says she does, we have
a simple question.
Why is her government put-
ting inserts into hydro bills
touting the province's eight
per cent rebate, which started
Jan. 1, but not including the
increased cost of cap and
trade as a separate item on
home heating and energy
bills, which also started Jan. 1 ?
Energy Minister Glenn Thi-
beault claims advising
Ontarians of the eight per
cent HST rebate on their
hydro bills is so they can
plan their budgets.
If so, why didn't the Liber-
als send out notices inform-
ing ratepayers every time they
imposed higher electricity
rates on Ontarians between
2006 and 2016, during which
time rates doubled?
Municipal utilities like
Toronto Hydro already
include the dollar amount of
the "8% Provincial Rebate"
as a separate line item on
their electricity bills to con-
sumers, listed as a credit, so
why is the Wynne govern-
ment informing them of the
same thing, again?
Of the latest inserts touting
the eight per cent HST rebate
— similar to notices the Lib-
erals sent out in 2010 touting
the now -defunct 10 per cent
Clean Energy Benefit dis-
count, which started in 2011
— Auditor General Bonnie
Lysyk said they violated the
spirit of the Liberal govern-
ment's advertising rules.
The only reason they didn't
violate the rules themselves is
that there are no rules on con-
tent when the government
sends inserts to homeowners.
However, when it comes
to government advertising,
Wynne in 2015, despite
protests by Lysyk, gutted a
law passed by her prede-
cessor — Dalton McGuinty
— that empowered the
auditor general to disallow
partisan government
advertising.
Since then, Lysyk has
criticized numerous ads by
the Wynne government,
financed by millions of tax-
payers' dollars, as inappropri-
ately partisan and self-con-
gratulatory, noting she would
not have approved them
under the law Wynne gutted.
Finally, the Wynne govern-
ment's explanation for not
including the added cost of
cap and trade as a separate
item on home heating/
energy bills is that the
Ontario Energy Board
rejected it, as if the Liberals,
with a majority government,
don't have the power to do
whatever they want when it
comes to this issue.
What's really going on is
that they're manipulating the
rules in hopes of winning
next year's election.
Some open and transpar-
ent government
Let's make the most from U.S. trade talks
Last week the Trump
administration started
the NAFTA renegotia-
tion process. Canada, the
U.S. and Mexico now have 90
days to get prepped to start
the talks.
Robert Lighthizer, Presi-
dent Donald Trump's trade
representative, sent the doc-
ument to the top members of
Congress, outlining the
administration's rationale.
"We note that NAFTA was
negotiated 25 years ago, and
while our economy and busi-
nesses have changed consid-
erably over that period,
NAFTA has not," he wrote.
"Many chapters are outdated
and do not reflect modern
standards."
The whole prospect of
these talks, with so much
trade hanging in the bal-
ance, is at first a scary one.
However there are many
Canadian officials and
diplomats who would
agree with the above state-
ment — even those who
played a hand in negotiat-
ing the agreement back
during the Mulroney
government.
The economy has changed.
The agreement should
change too. And we should
strive to get the best out of
this new deal, whatever it
may turn into.
Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau and his team have
in fact performed quite well
on this file. They've been
making their case to the
Trump team from as early as
the transition period and
kept the conversation open
with calls, meetings and
Trudeau's official White
House visit.
We're in a decent position
and don't need to stress out.
That part is key. Trump is
clearly unpredictable. He
changes his position.
While we were first told
that changes to trade with
Canada would be mere
"tweaks' we were suddenly
slapped with tariffs of up to
24 per cent on our softwood
lumber.
"It's the fifth time since
1981 the U.S. has argued
Canada unfairly subsidizes
its softwood industry, and
Trudeau says they've ulti-
mately been proven wrong
every time," the Canadian
Press reported last week.
"Canada is engaged in a
full-scale pushback against
the tariffs, with provincial
envoys and federal ministers
reaching out to common
interests in the U.S. trying to
convince the Trump admin-
istration to back down on the
tariffs."
Our various industries are
now too integrated to just
throw to the wolves. If Trump
doesn't know this yet, he'll
learn soon — hopefully from
governors and advisers on
his own side of the border.
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