Friday, September 23, 2011

Here is what our Premier McGuinity has done

Here is what our Premier McGuinity has done for Ontario in the past seven years.


As difficult as it is to believe...... he had a no tax increase election message/campaign-which got him elected!



Dalton McGuinty -

Please Distribute To All Ontarians...



Now that we've seen what can happen in B.C. (with the recent resignation of former Premier Campbell), it's time to address Ontario 's situation. Here's a historical reminder of what our Government has done for us in recent years.











Just so you don't forget...





1. He has increased all the licensing fees from your car to your boat including fishing and hunting.



2. He introduced the health care premium (not called a tax) and some couples pay as much as $1,500.00 a year.



3. He has put an ECO tax on many containers such as paint cans and window washer fluid and most people still don't realize it until they see the bill - he kept that one real quiet.



4. He put a disposal tax on all electronics.



5. He put the disposal tax back on tires.



6. And now he has passed the HST tax - the largest tax on the province ever and the only other tax in Ontario that ever came close to this in the past was the health care premium. He passed this bill even though 76% of the people in Ontario were against it. This HST will provide the Province with an additional THREE BILLION dollars a year.



7. Soon, July 15th, we will all have our S.M.A.R.T. Meters on which we will have to pay perpetual rent and will end up doing our laundry in the middle of the night. We are also going to pay big time for air conditioning from now on because when we need it the most it will be in the prime time of usage.



8. Let us not forget the E-health scandal with 1.2 billion dollars wasted and paid out to friends and relatives.

What was Mr. McGuinty’ s answer to this? “Well, if the people of Ontario don't like it, they can show it in the next election”. Nice attitude. But let's remember as that day approaches.

This after he fired the CEO and then gave her a severance package of $300,000 - not bad for only being on the job for seven months.



9. And what about the SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS windmill power plant contract that he awarded to KOREA?



One would think there was some place in Canada or North America that could have built these.



10. He also closed the emergency rooms in Port Colburne and Fort Erie because there is not enough money. There have been two deaths since then because by the time they got to St. Catharine's it was too late. But he then awards a hospital in Toronto three million dollars. Of course, that was in the riding where there just happens to be a by-election to replace George Smitherman!



11. He has taken the richest most prosperous province in Canada down to one of the 'Have-Nots'.And, over the past six & one half years, has increased the budget deficit from $5.6 Billion dollars to TWENTY SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS and he still has a few months to go.



12. And don't forget his nice little salary increase of $40,000.00 a year



- millions of people in the province don't earn even half of that.



13. Have we forgotten all the MPP'S who also got a 14% increase? And now that they've had their increases he comes out with a new budget to freeze all provincial employees wages for two years. A bit late don't you think?



14. He increased the hydro tax by 10% in April of 2010.



15. He has increased the tax on liquor and wine by 10% in May of 2010.



16. He continues to permanently 'Blight' landscapes across the province with unsightly wind turbines.



17. But, Mr. McGuinty will retire with his nice comfortable pension and all his benefits paid.







18. No indexing not even minimal, indexing for WSIB recipients.



I hope this gets passed around the province of Ontario and everybody remembers the way we got screwed by Mr. McGuinty and the Liberal party.



Remember - not one Liberal MPP had enough guts to vote against any of the above.


And all pensioners got no raise at all over the past 18 months!


And remember, he’s screwed us so royally that by voting him out, he’s entitled to pension that we also pay for!



Wake up Ontario .... it's time to act!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

WHERE IS TIM?????

Hey, wasn't this election supposed to be about power rates?  WTF is going on Tim?????

Solar Production, real numbers, and you are paying…

Just for Carl.  I finally got some real solar numbers.  As I suspected, it's pathetic.

I've started a new blog for this, as when time allows, I will be doing much more analysis of solar output, just like I did for wind.

Ontario Solar Performance

Bottom line is a single pedestal of panels only provides enough power for half a normal home's consumption.  And YOU are paying them $10,000 per year for that.  So if you are roaming around the province and see 2 pedestals on a farm, that's providing less than the home requires on that same farm.  Oh, and if the panels are horizontal looking straight up, it means they are not connected to the grid because H1 has not been able to upgrade the area.  Some have been like that for more than a year.

My prediction stands.  In 2-3 years the vast majority of these panel owners will be bankrupt.

DO NOT SIGN UP WITH RETAILERS

Because of the BullFrog BS, I will post this again. 

DO NOT SIGN UP WITH RETAILERS!!! 

You will pay a LOT more for power.  There is NO SAVINGS to be had with fixed rates.  These retailers MUST include the Global Adjustment (See IESO for price) which can DOUBLE your rates.  Today the GA is 4.46 ¢/kWh while the hourly price is 3.56 ¢/kWh.  This is because we have a glut of power on line, and when that happens the hourly price drops, and the GA increases.




So when retailer reps come to the door to try and sign you up, tell them to piss off.

BULLFROG POWER FINED $25,000

Seems Bullfrog's contracts were illegal.  So was their claim

In Ontario, Bullfrog Power greneration injects EcoLogoM certified wind power and low impact hydro power into the Ontario electricity grid to match the amount of power your home uses

See ruling here: http://www.ontarioenergyboard.ca/OEB/_Documents/Compliance/Bullfrog_Assurance%20Voluntary%20Compliance_20110909.pdf

Specifically note about moving out of the home/cancelling H1 contract.

See also http://windconcernsontario.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/bull-energy-found-guilty-of-lying-and-manipulation/

Friday, September 2, 2011

Think hydro rates are outrageous now?

Get ready to pay billions for hydro pensions



Think hydro rates are outrageous now?



By Catherine Swift and Bill Tufts



Wonder why Ontario hydro rates are so high? There are many reasons for soaring electricity rates, but one that hasn’t received anywhere near enough attention is the very lavish pay and benefits of the hydro utilities’ staff.



Recently, there has been quite a ruckus over a number of pensions in the extended public sector. In British Columbia, it was revealed that a senior executive at BC Ferries was eligible to receive a lifetime pension valued at $315,000 after only nine years of employment there. In Quebec, Hydro-Québec claimed that its pension costs last year were only $21-million, but its financial reports showed that taxpayers had pumped $646-million into the pension plan. Stay tuned — we will hear many more such horror stories as a result of decades of pension underfunding, early retirements and rich pensions of public sector workers and those in the extended public sector.



As a result of some of these outrageous recent examples, we decided to investigate the Ontario electricity situation. A recent executive compensation report from Ontario Power Generation (OPG) shows it is on track to pay its CEO a lifetime pension of $720,000 annually or $60,000 per month or $2,000 per day starting at age 65. Assuming an average lifespan, the CEO will collect total pension payments valued at about $17.6-million. Various other executives at OPG are shown to be eligible to receive pensions of $490,000, $330,000 and $310,000 per year according to the OPG report.



This seems to be part of a government trend in Ontario. Last year, the Sunshine List showed more than 11,000 workers making more than $100,000 a year at Hydro One and OPG. When fully eligible, they will receive a pension of at least $70,000 (as public-sector workers typically receive a pension valued at 70% of final salary), including CPP. Current data show that, for a person retiring today at age 55, their life expectancy is now 84. This means that the numerous Sunshine List employees will each collect a pension of at least $2-million.



Defenders of these very generous pensions always claim that these employees contribute their fair share into the pension plans, and so deserve them. As taxpayers, we would normally think a 50-50 split of contributions would be fair, with employees contributing 50% and taxpayers matching it. But over the past five years alone, taxpayers have pumped $1.3-billion into the plan, while employees have contributed only $368-million. Not so fair and sure to create serious pension tensions when taxpayers find out what is really happening in these pension Ponzi schemes.



With all this money having gone into the plan recently, one would think that these pension contributions would mean the plan is solvent. Not so. OPG still had an estimated pension deficiency on a wind-up basis of $2.8-billion with the last valuation that was due on Jan. 1, 2011. Since the report has not yet been released, it is likely the shortfall is even worse than the $2.8-billion reported.



Unfortunately, the story does not stop here. Both Hydro and OPG pay for generous benefits for its retired employees — benefits that are rarely if ever seen in the private sector. Called Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEBs) in the lingo of pension experts, these allowances are primarily for enhanced health care for employees after they retire. OPG owes a debt to its future retired employees of $1.9-billion in OPEBs, and Hydro One owes almost $1-billion. Given expectations that healthcare costs will skyrocket in the next few years, the real costs faced will very likely be much higher than even these significant amounts.



This is only one narrative regarding the hydro utilities in one province. Multiply this times so many other arm’s-length government agencies at all levels of government, across all the provinces, and you start to get an idea of the massive obligations that will soon fall on private-sector taxpayers and ratepayers for utilities like hydro. Think hydro rates are outrageous now? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.



Financial Post  http://opinion.financialpost.com/2011/08/31/get-ready-to-pay-billions-for-hydro-pensions/



Catherine Swift is president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Bill Tufts is an employee benefits specialist at WB Benefit Solutions and author of the upcoming book, Pension Ponzi.



.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

New Smart Meter Tax

"A review of the 2010 Ontario Public Accounts reveals that McGuinty’s Minister of Energy has quietly approved charging Ontario families a new “smart meter service fee”. This new tax is being charged to cover the costs of the “Smart Metering Entity” that runs the smart meters which themselves are nothing more than government-sponsored tax machines. The new Smart Meter Tax will be applied on top of the current costs of the smart meter scheme – which already charges families $200 per household to install, and drives up family hydro rates by 150%. One of Dalton McGuinty’s energy bureaucracies is already budgeting to collect this tax which will cost Ontario families at least $132 million dollars over four years. "

Posted as a comment http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1047656--health-care-and-economy-are-ontarians-biggest-concerns-poll-finds?bn=1#comments


Also:  http://larryscott.ca/feature/coming-soon-%E2%80%93-yet-another-dalton-mcguinty-tax-grab/

Coming Soon – Yet Another Dalton McGuinty Tax Grab


September 1st, 2011

TORONTO — Today Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak was joined by Ontario PC candidates Mike Yen and Karlene Nation to expose Dalton “The Tax Man” McGuinty’s latest attempt to sneak in a new tax on Ontario families. A review of the 2010 Ontario Public Accounts reveals that McGuinty’s Minister of Energy has quietly approved charging Ontario families a new “smart meter service fee”. This new tax is being charged to cover the costs of the “Smart Metering Entity” that runs the smart meters which themselves are nothing more than government-sponsored tax machines.



The new Smart Meter Tax will be applied on top of the current costs of the smart meter scheme – which already charges families $200 per household to install, and drives up family hydro rates by 150%. One of Dalton McGuinty’s energy bureaucracies is already budgeting to collect this tax which will cost Ontario families at least $132 million dollars over four years.



While Dalton McGuinty seeks new and creative ways to force Ontario families to pay higher taxes, a Tim Hudak government will cancel the secret Smart Meter Tax and close the new hydro bureaucracy associated with it. In addition, an Ontario PC government will unplug mandatory smart meter time-of-use pricing.



An Ontario PC government will provide Ontario families with further relief by removing the HST from hydro and home heating bills and removing the debt retirement charge from home hydro bills – which will save the typical Ontario family $275 per year.