Liberals give false hope about natural gas to people of South Bruce, says Huron-Bruce MPP

The Ontario energy minister's parliamentary assistant has been bringing false hope to the residents of South Bruce about the future of natural gas in Bruce County, says Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson.

 

Bob Delaney, the MPP for Mississauga-Streetsville, was in South Bruce at the beginning of June to dispute the Globe and Mail's report that a draft of the provincial government's Climate Change Action Plan would phase out natural gas in homes by 2030.

 

"It concerns me greatly that a representative of the Liberal government was in southern Bruce County, meeting with municipal officials, and not giving them all the facts," said Thompson. "The truth is, the Liberals must cut natural gas usage by 40 per cent in just over 13 years in order to meet their 2030 climate target."

 

She said premier Kathleen Wynne and her caucus cronies have also admitted that the price of natural gas will increase under their cap-and-trade scheme, surpassing electricity rates and ultimately forcing homes and businesses off natural gas heating.

 

This is bad news for the communities of Kincardine, Arran-Elderslie and Huron-Kinloss which have been working for several years to bring the inexpensive energy source to their communities, finally reaching an agreement with EPCOR Utilities Inc. in 2015, Thompson said. Without a market to invest in, the deal could potentially fall apart.

 

"For the South Bruce community that has worked so hard for access to natural gas, the Parliamentary Assistant's remarks are extremely damaging," said Thompson. "He's giving false information to people who are trying to plan for the future of their communities, with no regard for the outcome. It's time the Liberals stop making decisions for themselves, and start thinking about Ontarians. "