Statement from Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown on the Completion of the Premier’s Northern Tour

The following is a statement from Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown on the end of Premier Wynne’s Northern Tour 

“With Premier Wynne’s tour of Northern Ontario concluding, I have to say that I am disappointed she didn’t take the opportunity to address – or even discuss – some of the region’s most pressing issues.

Over the last two years, I have had the opportunity to visit the North 20 times. I know that far-and-away the biggest issue for Northerners is our province’s skyrocketing hydro rates.

Unfortunately, by all accounts, during the Premier’s meetings with municipal, business, and community leaders, the topic wasn’t even brought up. Despite tweeting throughout the tour, she never once mentions the words ‘energy,’ ‘electricity,’ or ‘hydro.’

This week’s report that Ontario Hydro One customers now pay the highest energy rates in North America, in combination with last month’s reports of rampant energy poverty in our province’s Northern communities, is evidence of how large our energy crisis has become.

Unfortunately the Wynne Liberals, including Minister of Energy and Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault, refuse to acknowledge that a crisis even exists. This is proof of how out of touch this government is to the challenges the region faces.

Even after Premier Wynne’s whirlwind tour, one thing remains clear: for the people of Northern Ontario, life is harder under the Wynne Liberals.”