Antonia Chatson | Mar 31, 2016


I don't mind admitting it - I have broad shoulders. It doesn't bother me if people tell me my hair is too long and my ears are too short. I can hack it when they indicate my thighs are too wide and my shoulders are too sloped. I just laugh when people tell me my hair is too gray and my teeth are too sharp. If people think I am over-educated and underfed, that is their problem. And I have always considered myself of martyr material when it comes to people wondering why I am a Christian.

But when certain elements in the hierarchy insult my intelligence, I feel the hackles on the back of my neck start to rise. And not just my intelligence - included in the snub are the poverty-stricken masses of Ontario. When a letter came from Hydro One stating that they were going to set in place the Ontario Electricity Support Programme, which would help low income families with their hydro bills in the future, I, like many another, rejoiced that they actually seemed to have a heart. But upon perusing my last bill which had the full amount allotted to me, I began to search for the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit, a 10% credit which we have been enjoying for years past. It was not there. Also I noted that the amount given to me from the OESP reflected 10% of my average hydro bill.

So now I am credited with a set credit, which does not change if my bill goes either up or down. Frankly, I can't envisage it going down any time soon. The result seems to me to be a Win-Wynne situation. The OESP programme makes the government look generous, all the while saving on the OCEB programme. It doesn't take too many brains to figure this out, but I am sure they think they are pulling the wool over the eyes of the general populace.

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