Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown says his party will soon be having its own hydro announcement that will 'detail fixes' to skyrocketing rates.
"I really believe the Liberal Hydro plan fell short," Brown said. "$1.4 billion in interest. We're paying to make up for mistakes that continue to be committed. We're borrowing money to make up for bad contracts."
The Simcoe North MPP was in Barrie Friday for Hockey Helps the Homeless and took questions from local media via conference call about his plan to relieve Hydro rates.
"Very shortly we will be having our own Hydro announcement," he said offering no specifics on timing.
"As a starting point, I think the NDP and the Liberals are in damage control on this file and that's why they came up with these schemes because it's about their own political survival. They're looking at pretty ugly polling numbers. But ultimately this is the mess they own," Brown said.
"When we do unveil our Hydro plan I can assure you we'll be dealing with the issue of generation. We'll be dealing with the issue of bad contracts. We'll be dealing with the issue of the ongoing contracts that are being proceeded with even though we don't need it."
Brown says his party was awaiting figures from the government before drafting its Hydro fix.
He alleges the government is not sharing numbers that the opposition can work with but says some were released yesterday.
"This is probably the most secretive government we've ever had in Ontario history and when they're not sharing the books its difficult to put exact numbers on the table and that's why we wanted that disclosure."
Brown is also upset that 'out of control' executives' salaries are not being addressed and he also wants the Premier to ensure future shares of Hydro One are not sold.
Of Kathleen Wynne's plan to lower electricity rates another 17 percent, Brown said it doesn't go far enough.
"The Liberals have raised our Hydro rates since coming into office 400 percent and they're offering a 17 percent rebate simply by borrowing money and paying for contracts over a longer time."
Brown says the Liberals have not invested in infrastructure to make the system more reliable.
"Blackouts and the amount of interruptions have gone up 250 percent between 2012 and 2015," he said.
His Hydro plan will be 'across the board' and 'affect everyone' although he concedes the energy file has not been well-managed for decades.
"But the real blemishes, the real mistakes have happened on the watch of this Liberal government."
