A local MPP is calling Monday's Throne Speech a disappointment.
London West MPP Peggy Sattler says, while the city was mentioned as one of the communities in Ontario really feeling the crush of skyrocketing hydro rates, it will see little relief from the proposal to drop the provincial portion of the H-S-T from hydro bills.
"It's a temporary fix that Ontarians have no type of reassurance of how long that rebate will stay in place. That's one of the fundamental issues with a rebate program. It can be cancelled at any time," says Sattler. "We have called for electricity to simply be exempt from the HST. That would be a permanent solution to that one issue, but we've also called for an overhaul to the electricity system and that is not something we heard in the Throne Speech."
The Liberals say their plan to remove the provincial portion of the harmonized sales tax from hydro bills will save the typical Ontario household roughly $130 annually.
Sattler calls the 100,000 new child-care spaces to be created over five years welcome news, but is concerned by how little was mentioned about health care and jobs.
"They acknowledged that health care is a priority, they acknowledged that job creation is a priority but they said very little about what they were going to do to fix the crisis in health care and to ensure that we see more good paying jobs in this province," says Sattler.
MPPs will debate the Throne Speech at Queen's Park on Tuesday. Until that is complete Sattler is unsure whether the NDP will support it.
"I suspect we will not be supporting the Throne Speech but we have not officially taken a caucus position on it."
