Interview courtesy of Lake 88 (www.lake88.ca).

“No one is minding the store,” remarked Hillier. “Ministers have shielded themselves from scrutiny and accountability by passing off the responsibility for their ministries’ decisions to government agencies, boards and commissions. They have delegated their power out to unelected, unaccountable bodies, leaving a vacuum in place of administrative oversight.” Although the criminal investigation is presently seeded with unknowns, what is clear is that when Ministers prefer attending photo-ops rather than tending to Ministerial business, shady business practices are given the soil in which they grow.

Hillier points the finger at the Premier. “Ultimately the Premier must be held responsible, as it is he who has authorized his Cabinet to delegate their authority to parties subservient to the Legislative Assembly. How can the public hold a government to account that has outsourced their responsibilities?”

The recent Ecotax boondoggle is only the latest example; it follows a litany and pattern of neglect and irresponsibility, such as the $1 billion eHealth scandal, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming misconduct, the spending scandal at WSIB, recent changes to the MicroFIT progam, and now OPP investigations of numerous Ministries; the list keeps growing.

“The refusal of the Premier and his Ministers to provide effective administrative oversight for their responsibilities continues to cost the taxpayers of Ontario,” added Hillier. “The store is open, but the Ministers are out to lunch.”

The new eco-fees, introduced on the same day as the HST, are charged on a range of items. While they are ostensibly to pay for recycling, there is no indication that this is where the fees are actually being spent. Moreover, the fees were put into place with no prior announcement, notification to MPPs or the public causing mass confusion at retailers who had not been instructed on how to implement the secretive measure. Reports have begun pouring in from across the province of confused retailers & manufacturers over-charging customers due to a lack of understanding of the fees.

“This is what happens when a government tries to pass the buck. Taxation is a responsibility of the provincial government. It’s not something Dalton McGuinty can just ‘give away’,” said Hillier. “It’s become clear that McGuinty is creating a parallel government hidden from our view, that is unelected, unaccountable and with the power to tax without representation.”

The PC Party, under the leadership of Tim Hudak, has pledged to repeal the harmful new eco-fees once elected, and has called on the auditor general to immediately conduct an audit of Stewardship Ontario.
“Upon our return to the legislature, I’ll be ensuring that Dalton McGuinty’s shameful behaviour towards the taxpayers of Ontario and the democratically elected legislature is held to be just that – in contempt,” said Hillier.

“It’s unconscionable to lure people with green promises into an intentional financial trap, and then to pull the rug out from under them. The OPA’s announcement on July 2 effectively defrauds nearly 15000 Ontario citizens, many who have invested tens of thousands of dollars and huge amounts of time and energy,” said Hillier. “Dalton McGuinty has perpetrated the single greatest fraud in Ontario’s history on the people of Ontario.”

The Micro-FIT program originally made the commitment of paying out $0.802/kWh for ground mount solar projects, which has been reduced to $0.588/kWh. Originally the program stated that roof mount solar projects could be on existing or newly constructed buildings; the OPA now says only mounts on existing buildings will be accepted. The OPA has suspended about 10,000 applications, at the behest of the minister.

“At the time that this legislation was introduced, we made clear to the government that it was untenable. However, they chose to go ahead, and in doing so made a commitment to people. They’re breaking their promises, yet again,” said Hillier.

“In McGuinty’s rush to pump up his chest to the environmentalist lobby, he has boastfully doled out billions to major friends like Samsung and deceived the people of Ontario,” said Hillier. “Dalton McGuinty’s ‘green agenda’ has become nothing but a Ponzi scheme, with riches for his friends and a shakedown of new taxes, fees and lies for the people of Ontario.”

“It’s time to end McGuinty’s green deceit.”

“This legislation was created for Dalton McGuinty’s friends in the environmental lobby,” said Randy Hillier, PC Party Critic for Northern Development. “We learned that last year, when the World Wildlife Fund admitted that they were the only group consulted on its creation.”

The McGuinty Liberals passed a motion ramming Bill 191 through the legislature with minimal debate, and allowing for only four days of consultation. Aboriginal groups across northern Ontario have decried the committee process as contrived, and boycotted the hearings. This latest move by the committee ensures that there will be no consultation by the committee.

“I made sure that the government was aware that Aboriginal groups would not be able to meet on the days they’ve scheduled, and the government chose to ignore this,” said Hillier. “The McGuinty liberals wanted to sweep this under the carpet and in the end have completely silenced Northerners. It’s unacceptable.”

The McGuinty Liberals have ensured that Northerners will not have a say in the legislation, which calls for approximately 250,000 KM2 of land north of the 51st parallel to be cut off from any development. This area is approximately the size of the entire United Kingdom.

“This is not the Dalton McGuinty which people elected,” said Hillier. “He’s become so cozy with his downtown Toronto special interest groups that he no longer cares or respects the concerns of people in other parts of the province. His contempt for true & honest consultation is as vast as his empty & broken promises.”

“Unions are created for one reason: to defend the rights of their workers. Unions are supposed to fight for better working conditions,” stated Hillier. “But today, workers in the province of Ontario have no idea how their money is being spent. They have money deducted from their paycheque every month, but have no way of knowing where that money goes.”

The bill calls for unions to provide a mandatory financial disclosure procedure through the Ministry of Labour, much like the disclosure procedures which already exist for unions in numerous other jurisdictions.

“The only place you can find out about the finances of trade unions in Ontario through the Department of Labour in the US,” noted Hillier. “This government has kept us in the proverbial dark ages of labour relations, because they have a vested interest in keeping union finances hidden.”

The bill also mandates that unions receive a waiver from employees before using their dues for political or social advocacy not directly related to collective bargaining.

“Several years ago, a union here in Ontario supported the Israel Apartheid movement, something that this legislature and our federal parliament have denounced unanimously,” stated Hillier. “The Rand Formula allows unions to take dues from their employees’ paycheques, but Justice Rand never intended these dues to be used for social and political causes outside of employees’ control, and quite possibly contrary to their personal beliefs.”

“My bill will ensure that if trade unions are using their dues for something that doesn’t directly relate to their workers, the employees in question at the very least know about it, and consent to it.”

“We have given the OSPCA total authority with no oversight, and this has resulted in one set of rules for the OSPCA and another standard for the rest of the public,” observed Hillier. “If anyone else had animals in their care that were alleged to be in such negligent conditions, the OSPCA would have seized the animals in question and charged the owner with abuse. Knowing the circumstances surrounding ringworm infections, how they are spread, and the treatment, it brings into question the conditions at this, and other shelters. These animals are often animals rescued from alleged abusers, brought only to face a death sentence for a curable ailment at the hands of the body mandated to protect them.”

“That the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals’ best solution was extermination is only one question of concern. The motivation for the announcement of the decision to euthanize these animals is another,” added Hillier, noting that the public was initially told that 350 animals were being scheduled to death; we subsequently find out that some of the animals had been adopted out or stolen by staff or volunteers. Some 144 will be tested, while 99 have already been put to death. This has led to much speculation of the motivation. When questioned in the House, Minister Bartolucci, under whose Ministry the OSPCA falls, was muzzled.

Yesterday, OSPCA board chairman Rob Godfrey quipped “It’s a good day to be a turtle at the OSPCA,” because 8 turtles didn’t have ringworm. That was the OSPCA’s best effort at transparency.

“Did the OSPCA make the original announcement to spur their fundraising efforts by highlighting their inability to provide adequate space and care for their wards? If this should be the case, it is a high price to pay, a life for a donation, and it certainly makes their altruistic mantra suspect,” concluded Hillier.

“We’ve gone from 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour to 9.9 cents peak energy rate. That’s more than double,” observed Hillier. “Even the base rate during off-peak times is 5.3 cents. Dalton McGuinty’s assertion that smart meters are going to save people money is a lie. There is no way anybody will save money when the rates double along with new delivery and debt retirement charges.”

The new Time of Use rates were unveiled by Hydro One on May 1st, with no fanfare – just a posting on their website. This has followed months of energy rate increases, including a “fee” that the Liberals inserted into hydro bills, which the C.D. Howe Institute argues is an unconstitutional tax. The HST, which began phasing in on May 1st as well, will further increase energy prices by an additional 8%. The combination of these factors is leading us to a crisis in energy prices.

“I was an electrician before being elected to office. I know my trade, and I know that many energy costs are fixed. Your hot water heater, your refrigerator, and heating: these items operate throughout the day,” explained Hillier. “What would the Liberals suggest we do? Heat our homes only on weekends this winter and turn our refrigerators off during the day time?”

While the McGuinty Liberals have stated that rate increases are going towards increased infrastructure, the reality is that the Green Energy Act sets the province up for exponential power rate increases.

“Someone ought to teach these guys basic economics,” said Hillier. “If we’re paying 80 cents per kilowatt hour for a solar project, there’s no way that prices are going to be 4.5 cents on the consumer’s end. It’s not just an outright lie, it’s downright disgraceful to assume that the people of Ontario will continue to buy it.”