Queens Park — Today the first shares of Hydro One were sold on the open market. The Financial Accountability Officer (FAO) had issued a warning against the sale, stating it would harm the Province’s budget in the long term.

“The Liberal Government ignored the advice of the opposition, the public and an independent financial watchdog, and set the course for Hydro One to be privatized in an inefficient and unaccountable manner,” MPP McDonell stated. “Ontario’s Financial Accountability Officer highlighted that the sale will not generate the revenues that the Liberals expect, and will take away $750 million of yearly provincial income from the utility. Electricity rates are already set to rise by 41% by 2019, and consumers can now expect to be saddled with the extra cost of paying down Hydro One’s $27 billion debt, when this annual dividend is lost.”

According to the FAO, the sale of Hydro One will net only $1.4 billion.

“The net proceeds of the sale would hardly pay for an average Liberal scandal, such as the $2 billion E-health system, $1.1 billion in cancelled gas plants or the billion wasted at ORNGE,” MPP McDonell commented.