In today’s Financial Post, Ross McKitrick logically explains why Dalton McGuinty’s Green Energy Act is doomed to failure on two fronts – job production and environmental:
The pledge by Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak to roll back key provisions of the Ontario Green Energy Act is a courageous move and deserves to be applauded. It will likely spark intense debates as we head into the upcoming election. It is hard to say whether public opinion will be on his side, but the facts certainly are.
The Green Energy Act (GEA) was proposed as both an environmental policy and a job-creation policy. It is misguided on both scores…
Some of the money quotes:
…An industry that depends on subsidies for its survival is not a net source of jobs. The funds for the subsidies have to be raised through taxation, and the burden of taxes kills more jobs than the subsidies create. This is as true for wind power as it is for greenhouse cucumbers, and it doesn’t matter if the taxes are visible or are hidden in the form of feed-in tariffs and artificially inflated electricity bills…
…expanding the renewables portfolio is redundant since 75% of Ontario’s electricity comes from nuclear and hydro power, which do not generate emissions. Twenty-two per cent comes from coal-and natural gas-fired power plants. Ontarians have paid hundreds of millions of dollars for installation of advanced emission control devices on those plants. As a result, Ontario air pollution levels have fallen dramatically since the 1970s and 1980s, a point easily confirmed by consulting any edition of the government’s annual Air Quality in Ontario report…
…Whether the goal is to create jobs or protect the environment, the GEA is a failure, and the provincial Tories should be applauded for taking on the challenge of phasing it out.
This is a MUST-READ column on so many levels (H/T Lorrie Goldstein via Twitter).
Now all that remains is for Dalton McGuinty to come clean on the penalty question in the secret Samsung deal. Does one actually exist, and if so how much is it?
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Related
Matt Gurney: McGuinty, self-styled bargain hunter, will better any union offer – Full Comment
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Wednesday Update
PC Leader Hudak bringing in some big names – Adam Radwanski, Globe:
...along with Mr. Denley, Mr. Rossi and Mr. Gaudet are at least a few other high-profile candidates – among them former North Bay mayor Vic Fedeli, Hamilton television personality Donna Skelly and Ben Shenouda, the president of the Independent Pharmacists of Ontario. And it’s expected that there will be a couple more quasi-star candidates unveiled in the near future, including at least one member of the business community.
Kelly McParland: Ontario Liberals go for broke. Either they go, or you’re broke – National Post
Samsung’s Hit on Ontario Power Consumers: Counting the Costs – Tom Adams Energy
Blue Like You2 
McGuinty’s likely making up things on the fly. That he can’t produce the penalty to the Samsung contract makes smells of another Ont. gov’t fib.
Here’s great news for the PCs in Ontario – excellent snag of a candidate. I know Randy from way back in the 1990s when he took on the education establishment in Ottawa….including the educational choices of one Dalton McGuinty – whose kids attended a school at that time where the parents, admin. and yes even educators wanted to make their school a Charter School. This Ottawa reporter was simply amazing at that time.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Denley+Tories+election/4794136/story.html
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Richco – I’ve always enjoyed Denley’s columns. He is a great catch for sure. Actually there are many excellent candidates appearing on the Hudak side.
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In this part of the province McGuinty’s green energy plan is the equivalent of Bob Rae’s social contract in how totally pissed off folks are.
Lorrie’s column is so terrific….as usual. I hadn’t seen it yet until a few moments ago.
Good on you for taking some time off Joanne – well deserved and if only the weather would cooperate:-) If I have to listen to the goomer from environment Canada on the weather network attributing this bad weather to global warming and/or climate change I’ll soon be turning the Weather Network off too – just like I have CBC and CTV. SunTV has weather too right?
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Tim Hudak on with Lowell Green coming up now at cfra.com.
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Denley is great news for Hudak’s team. He does a very good job of holding the city of Ottawa’s feet to the fire. The question is will he run to be the candidate or will he be handed the position?? Hudak just answered the question: Denley will have to run against other candidates. But, it’s clear Hudak supports Denley.
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Completely O/T, Jo, but just curious as to whether you were contacted for this survey mentioned in the Star. While my feeling is that most Liberal bloggers are male, I tend to think that the Conservatives are more evenly split.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/992242–canada-s-political-bloggers-are-predominately-male-survey
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Completely O/T, Jo, but just curious as to whether you were contacted for this survey mentioned in the Star.
Jad – No, I didn’t get contacted as far as I know. Unless the spam filter in my email account got rid of it. Yes I would agree with you that there seems to be more of an even split in Conservatives bloggers.
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State of Michigan is not far from Province of Ontario. The Red-Green fraud is a world-wide fraud, a leviathan rolling on. How can it be stopped?
Start with facts. Read this and compare this with your Hydro bills sent to you from Red-Green McGuinty.
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“Krazy in Kalamazoo – taxes on solar farm more than the value of the electricity produced
Posted on May 16, 2011 by Anthony Watts
For comparison, Field researched the property tax for the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert Township along Lake Michigan. He found that the annual real and personal property taxes for Palisades are just over $12 million or .2 cents per kilowatt hour.
…
Field said he considers Michigan’s system to be “schizophrenic” in the sense that it places a tax burden on renewable energy while at the same time the state has a renewable portfolio standard law to encourage renewable energy. He contends that all sources of producing energy should have the same per kilowatt hour tax rate.
Full story here”:
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Randall Denley running for the PC party is excellent news. He is one of the most articulate and effective critics of the whole GEA fiasco. He has written several Citizen columns outlining the economic absurdities of wind and solar pipedreams, backed up with statistics from the power operators own databases. Among the Citizens’ mushy Liberal columnists, he stands out as a voice of reason. The Citizen remains the only paper in Ont. which supports editorially, a major industrial wind turbine development within its own city boundaries.
He would give Bob Chiarelli a real fight.
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Below is a headline by MSM.
MSM uses “Prime Minister” in “Prime Minister Stephen Harper”!
Must be an error.
…-
“Prime Minister Stephen Harper will unveil his new cabinet on Wednesday.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/decision-canada/Tories+announce+cabinet+Wednesday/4797533/story.html
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Mark tries to explain vote-splitting to a lefty and the discussion quickly goes awry.
http://tinyurl.com/6knbucw
(at 15:45 mark or approx. 1/3 area on slide bar)
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O/T – Layton – champion of the average Canadian? NOT!
a snippet from Gunter’s NP column today.
“According to a fascinating Canadian Press story this morning, last year, not long after Mr. Layton petitioned Loblaws to keep a store open in the northern Ontario community of Sudbury – a store that employed RWDSU members — the union flew him and his wife, NDP MP Olivia Chow — to Orlando and put them up at the fabulous Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin resort.
To be fair, the union only forked over around $3,000 to cover the Layton-Chows’ airfare, hotel rooms (they stayed in separate rooms) and expenses. The couple were only in Florida overnight. In return for the trip, Mr. Layton had to address the union’s annual international convention, and there is no record of the Layton-Chows buying mouse-ear hats or riding the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster to the blastin’ tunes of Aerosmith.
Still, to gauge just how hypocritical Mr. Layton’s union-paid Florida trip was, try imagining the reaction if Stephen Harper had accepted a similar trip underwritten by one or more of the companies that operate oilsands plants.
As the old saying goes, it’s not the money, it’s the principle. Mr. Layton loves to portray himself as the little guy — a humble fighter for families and working people. Yet he and Ms. Chow indulge in as many of the perks and privileges of being MPs as any two other MPs on the Hill, including free trips to Florida provided by powerful lobbies.”
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OT, but we have all heard that the world is ending next week. Well, today 4 van loads of those supporting this were turned back and not allowed into Canada at the Coutts/Sweetgrass border. Something about the posters etc they had with them, plus other reasons.
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MadMacs of Bytown says…
“Mark tries to explain vote-splitting to a lefty and the discussion quickly goes awry.”
Wow, just wow. Very funny, and very sad..
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Why separate rooms for the couple, most rooms have two beds. But then do they actually live together as they run in different ridings.
And they both submit living expenses, so maybe it is them that are separated, not the Harpers.
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Mad Macs..that phone call was quite the eye opener and shows that no matter how old some people are, they really haven’t gotten very smart. I couldn’t believe that she actually thought that her “vote” was split..good on the host for calling her out on her comments – more of the media need to be doing things like this so these lefties realize that their asinine comments are just that – asinine.
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OT but important.
The official recount results for Nipppissing-Temiskaming (North Bay)
CPC Win!! Jay Aspin beat Anthony Rota!
http://nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3127898
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CPC Win!! Jay Aspin beat Anthony Rota!
Woo-hoo!! That’s fantastic!
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Who was declared the winner on May 2, .
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Who was declared the winner on May 2, .
Aspin, right Bluetech? But it was so close.
From the Nugget:
The judicial recount of 42,357 ballots began Friday at Clarion Resort Pinewood Park.
I’ve stayed there. Great place!
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Just listened to that call, what an idiot she is. She thinks she has the right to compare our PM to H, but gets upset when challenged when asked to make comparisons. And she comes up with Helena. Maybe she will be so upset next election thinking her vote is going to two parties she will stay home.
She and how many more walk among us. Where do they get the idea that the PM is a dictator. He has had a minority govt for 5 yrs. What did he dictate to them that was made law.
They all are speechless when challenged by a talk show host. Too bad the Terry M, and others never challenged those remarks during the past 5 yrs.
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“Mr. Layton loves to portray himself as the little guy — a humble fighter for families and working people. Yet he and Ms. Chow indulge in as many of the perks and privileges of being MPs as any two other MPs on the Hill, including free trips to Florida provided by powerful lobbies.”
Under current rules, I don’t see anything particularly wrong with Layton accepting this sort of thing. A lot of MP’s from all parties do the same, so he’s just feeding at the same trough. Instead, any MP travel could be banned by the current government, except that paid for by the government, i.e., taxpayers, with proper audited approval. If there’s a net benefit to us, then fine. If not, pay for it yourself. The PM can do this, so why not? Layton makes $157K x 2 (plus more for being the leader). Surely he can afford it.
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While we are at it, after the PM bans junket travel, he can also completely ban all lobbying to the government from ex-government and industry people, and consultants fees for the same. A win-win for taxpayers. I’m holding my breath now.
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Yes…Aspin was ‘declared’ with 14 votes. I was with the Aspin team celebrating on election night, and we finally got the declaration long after midnight…what a feeling!
I have been helping at elections since our first Reform candidate (’93 ?), so this is a sweet victory!
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Bluetech – That is so exciting! You’re part of history. That riding has been red for a long time.
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Appears Alfred Apps is not going to resign, he’s going to stay on until his term is up in January. Those who are blaming him for all the party woes would be wise to suck it up and get on with the formidable task of rebuilding from a very low point, the blame game doesn’t cut it.
Actually, Apps was doing what Liberals do, pick someone they perceive to be a big name, a star candidate and assume the rubes will vote for him.
It backfired with Ignatieff, we defined him out of the gate and proved to be right. It’s one thing to dress a mannequin in a window but you also have to have something in the store.
Wonder how Denis Coderre, Ralph Goodale et al will enjoy taking a back seat to Jack Layton and his kiddies?
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this is a good column today that suggests why the Ont. Liberals shouldn’t focus their attention in the run-up to the provincial election entirely on the PCs – I agree with parts of this column that pertain to how the NDP are going to play this.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/new-democrats-bet-that-dalton-mcguinty-is-not-stephen-harper/article2025553/
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John Baird to Foreign Affairs? Anyone guess that one?
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the sham of Dalton McGuinty when it comes to the public service
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/17/blizzard-liberals-pay-hike-con-job
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