Canada, Ontario: Time to Fix Hydro ‘Mistake’

Written on February 25th, 2017 in politics Comments Off

Published on The Bullett, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1372, by Paul Kahnert, Feb 22, 2017.

Hydro in Ontario is a mess and rates are skyrocketing. The high number of people who have trouble paying or can’t pay their Hydro bills is growing by the day. Businesses are leaving the province and/or refusing to locate here because of high Hydro rates. A group that is especially being ignored is small and medium business including farmers (that’s from a former union activist) … //

… 1998: End of Public, Non-Profit Hydro: … //
… Rate Freezes: … //

… How to Fix the ‘Mistake’:

What needs to be done to fix Ontario’s electricity system and economy – it won’t be easy:

  • 1): All privatization, mergers and the sale of Hydro One must immediately stop. (European countries like Germany are buying back their utilities. We must make a plan to buy back our Public utilities).
  • 2): Deregulation didn’t work. Period. The IESO electricity market must be closed and deregulation legislation must be repealed.
  • … 3): – 7): …
  • 8): Make a plan and rebuild our public utilities. Ontario’s businesses, jobs for youth, the environment and the economy depend on that to happen. Returning these levers of control to local and provincial governments is critical.

If these things are not done, then our problems with high Hydro rates will remain. Some people are tired of hearing about Sir Adam Beck and his vision of Public Power. But… it is a fact. We did have 94 years of Public, non-profit power in Ontario. Sir Adam Beck wasn’t a socialist, he was a practical businessman backed by small and medium businesses and eighteen referendums in Ontario. His vision of Public Power made Ontario’s economy great. It made Ontario a great place to do business. On his death bed, Sir Adam Beck said “I wished I could have lived long enough to build a band of Iron around Hydro, to keep it safe from the politicians.” He might have added “And keep it safe from the profiteers.”

Conclusion: The 2018 Provincial Election: … //

… (full text, related reading, comments, notes).

Links:

Artificial Intelligence: ‘Frankenstein’ or Capitalist Money Machine, on Global Research.ca, by Prof.James Petras, Feb 24, 2017: … Conclusion, Alternatives: If class determines AI, and in present-day America that means the ruling class, then only changes in the class structure can pose different questions and answers to our originally stated problems. Only by sharpening the class struggle, which changes who rules the banks, factories and social institutions, will new assumptions direct AI and IT and other innovations. Only workers, professionals and scientists, who replace the prioritizing of profits with meeting social needs, can produce an AI that lowers the retirement age, increases national health care, facilitates workers’ decision making, distributes high quality education and information to the citizenry, reduces inequalities and shifts earnings from capital to labor;

Canada’s Shameful Role in the Overthrow of Ghana’s President Kwame Nkrumah, on Dissident Voice, by Yves Engler, Feb 23, 2017;

Bélgique: les soins par entreprise privée dans un système capitaliste, dans 7 sur 7, le 23 février 2017: ‘je dois demander trois jours à l’avance pour aller aux toilettes’, cinq euros à chaque fois. Dorien Meulenijzer est atteinte d’une maladie musculaire qui la cloue dans un fauteuil roulant. Chaque geste lui impose de demander assistance. La jeune habitante de Louvain, âgée de 27 ans, a besoin du soutien de 50 aidants … “même le passage aux toilettes est chronométré” … check-list des gestes, du peigne à la douche en passant par les bas … la santé, un travail à la chaîne? …;

Millionaire Lebedev cuts Evening Standard staff’s hours and pay in half, on Lwft Foot Forward, by Adam Barnett, Feb 23, 2017: the paper has trebled pre-tax profits to £3.4 million: “Well comrades, there’s good news, and there’s bad news. The good news is, all your hard work has trebled pre-tax-profits to £3.4 million, and online readership is up by 24 per cent against last year. The bad news is, we’re cutting your hours and pay”;

Labour’s Tom Watson given £500,000 by press reform campaigner Max Mosley … in less than a year, on Press Gazette, by Dominic Ponsford, Feb 23, 2017: … Mosley is a leading campaigner and financial backer of the campaign for tougher press regulation … his generous donation will help the party develop strong policies for our next manifesto;

Masdar-City, UAE:
on en.wikipedia; (it) is a planned city project in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Its core is being built by Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, with the majority of seed capital provided by the Government of Abu Dhabi.[2][3] Designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners, the city relies on solar energy and other renewable energy sources.[4][5] …; /External Links;
Saint-Gobain to build energy efficient house in Abu Dhabi, on ME Construction News, by Anirban Bagchi, Feb 21, 2017: Masdar City-based ‘multi–comfort house’ project set to be ready by 2019 …;
Masdar City rolls out new bike trail, on The Gulf Today, Feb 13, 2017;
Masdar’s zero-carbon dream could become world’s first green ghost town, on The Guardian, by Suzanne Goldenbeerg, Feb 16, 2016;
on Coogle Web-search;
on Google News-search;
on Google Images-search;
on YouTube-search;

… and this:

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