Fred Hahn, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario. Submitted photo.
Ontario's largest union says it will "use every tool at its disposal" to stop the sale of Hydro One.
"Pursuing a Hydro One sell-off is not in the public interest," said Fred Hahn, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario.
"The Liberal government today announced it is filing a preliminary prospectus and is pushing ahead with its plan to sell off 60 percent of Hydro One, despite opposition by 83 percent of Ontarians, and despite polls that show half of Ontario voters may shun Justin Trudeau in the federal election as a result," says a union news release.
“Kathleen Wynne’s dogged pursuit of this privatization train wreck is a betrayal of public trust,” said Hahn. “Poll after poll clearly shows that the vast majority of Ontarians are strongly opposed to selling off our public electricity grid. The Liberals aren’t listening to the people. We are, and we’ll use every tool at our disposal to fight this sale.”
CUPE’s lawyers will be scrutinizing the prospectus, which is one step on the road to an initial public offering.
"That road has been plagued by delays and missteps, which should give pause to investors and the public alike," says Hahn.
“Ontarians know that privatizing hydro means skyrocketing electricity rates and a loss of public control and accountability.”
The union is asking people to contact their MPPs, to "stop this from becoming the next Liberal privatization scandal.”
Meanwhile the government says in preparation for the Initial Public Offering, a preliminary prospectus has been filed by Hydro One with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the other Canadian securities commissions. The prospectus, approved by the Province and the company’s Board of Directors, provides a comprehensive overview of Hydro One, including its operations and its outlook.
The 2015 Budget legislation requires that, by law, the Ontario government remain the largest shareholder of the new company at a minimum 40 per cent and that no other shareholder or group of shareholders would be permitted to own more than 10 per cent.
As well, Hydro One would continue to have no role in setting electricity rates. Rates will continue to be set by the independent Ontario Energy Board (OEB).
Maximizing the value of Hydro One is part of the government’s economic plan for Ontario.
