Why does Randy Hillier's Hitachi Boondoggle hurt LFLA farmers?

Jun 04, 2014

Our local MPP, Randy Hillier, complains about the Samsung Boondoggle when he criticizes the green energy policies of the Liberal government. He also says that farmers should not be getting revenue from solar panels at the expense of hydro ratepayers. His solution is to have our electricity produced by “cheap” nuclear.

This means that if Mr. Hillier gets his way, billions of dollars will be paid to companies like Hitachi, Toshiba, or SNC Lavalin( which is being investigated in Quebec for bribery and corrupt practices) to refurbish or build new nuclear reactors. Also, Mr. Hillier has implied that Ontario could import electricity from Quebec.

Mr. Hillier thinks that it's OK to pay out billions of dollars to big foreign companies and other provinces but not thousands to our own farmers to allow them to stay on their land and produce food for us.

Since the price of nuclear is going up and the price solar energy dropping dramatically, it will actually be cheaper to get our energy from green renewable sources such as solar, wind, and biogas produced locally by our farmers than from nuclear reactors.

All of our green energy comes from Public Private Partnerships where companies or farmers have to invest their own money and get a fixed rate for the energy they produce as opposed to nuclear power where the province has been on the hook for cost over-runs. We see this every day on our hydro bills when we have to pay off the “stranded” debt produced by nuclear power.

Mr. Hillier should stand up for his constituents and support local farmers by paying them instead of Hitachi for our electricity.

Wolfe Erlichman