liberal fail!

Wind Turbines May Leave Scotland, “In the Dark”!

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More wind farms could lead to blackouts

OPPONENTS of wind farms have claimed that the increasing reliance on them could plunge Scotland into darkness.

By: Rod Mills

Published: Thu, May 29, 2014

Wind Farms, Green Energy, Scotland, Scottish Power, Blackouts, Energy, Electricity, Current, Power, As the debate around green energy rages, some are claiming Wind Farms would darken Scotland[ALAMY]

The Scottish Government is considering more than 40 applications for major projects, which could clear the way for nearly 1,000 turbines.

Each wind farm could produce enough electricity to power thousands of homes, but objectors claim that even if just some of them were approved, the grid would become overloaded and trigger blackouts.

Campaigners cite the Czech Republic, which installed security breakers near its border with Germany, because its network could not cope with the electricity produced by its neighbours during peak periods.

The anti-wind farm lobby says a surge of electricity from turbines caused by high winds was to blame for a power cut last month that affected 200,000 properties in parts of the Highlands and islands. The overload claims have been dismissed by the National Grid and energy giants Scottish Hydro Electric said it had positively identified the cause of the blackout as faulty equipment in a substation.

There is no evidence that adding more onshore wind generation will lead to blackouts.

Michael Rieley, of Scottish Renewables

Campaigner Lyndsey Ward, of Kiltarlity, near Inverness, said: “With other countries safeguarding their grids from the dumping of unwanted wind energy by neighbours, the Scottish Government is taking us for fools if they think we blindly believe what they say.”

SNP ministers are examining 41 applications for developments of 50 megawatts or more, a total of 966 giant turbines, including 10 in the Highlands, one each in Moray and the Western Isles and three in Argyll and Bute.

Andrew Mackay, a campaigner and electrical engineer from Tain, Easter Ross, said that when it was blustery, turbines produced “junk” electricity that could not be used. He said: “We are going to get more power cuts because more and more junk electricity will end up on the grid.”

But Michael Rieley, of Scottish Renewables, said: “There is no evidence that adding more onshore wind generation will lead to blackouts.” A spokesman for Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission said last month’s blackout was caused by a faulty relay.

He said: “Our investigation identified that the outage was triggered by a mal-operating electronic relay within Knocknagael substation, south of Inverness. A review of the network has been completed and we are confident that the cause has now been addressed.”

Related articles

A National Grid spokeswoman said it was unlikely a surge in wind-produced electricity would cause a blackout, and a Scottish Government spokesman said: “Claims on overloading the grid are incorrect. The transmission owners are obliged under their licence to ensure that the electricity network is planned, operated and maintained to the required quality and security of supply standards at all times.”

Lord Deben of Winston, formerly Conservative minister John Selwyn Gummer, said yesterday that the UK had already approved enough onshore wind turbines to meet legally binding climate change targets.

The Tory peer is the UK government’s chief climate adviser.

 

101, (out of over a Billion) reasons NOT to Vote for Wynne & the Liberals!

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Title - Chris Savard
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Ontario Election: 101 reasons not to vote for Kathleen Wynne
By Chris Savard

OurHometown.ca
Ontario Election: 101 reasons not to vote for Kathleen Wynne
The reality is that this $5 million in funding for children with special needs is literally a drop in Lake Ontario compared to the wasteful spending practices of the McGunity-Wynne Liberals over the last 11 years. This amount works out to the equivalent of less than $50,000 per riding across the province.
PHOTO CREDIT – KathleenWynne.ca

Stoney Point – May 20, 2014 –OurHometown.ca recently received a media release from the Ontario Liberal Party, touting how they plan to invest an additional $5 million to help children with special needs. The release went on to say that NDP leader Andrea Horwath has put this funding at risk by not supporting the budget.

The reality is that this $5 million in funding for children with special needs is literally a drop in Lake Ontario compared to the wasteful spending practices of the McGunity-Wynne Liberals over the last 11 years. This amount works out to the equivalent of less than $50,000 per riding across the province.

In 2007 when I ran for a seat in the provincial legislature, I heard from many families who expressed concern about the lack of support and length of wait times for assistance for children with Autism. Since that time, our son Tristan has been diagnosed with autism. While I thought I understood the magnitude of the problem then, I most certainly do now.

We have been told that Windsor-Essex has some of the shortest wait times in the province, yet Tristan has been on the wait list for over 18 months for IBI therapy. The coordinators and therapists we deal with are great but their hands are tied on how quickly the list can move simply because there is not enough money to meet the ever growing demand. Current stats suggest that 1 in 68 children will be diagnosed with autism.

Needless to say, the release from Kathleen Wynne hit a nerve with us, as we can see the wasteful spending and how it detracts from assistance for children like Tristan. In this instance, I am drawing analogies to the special needs funding shortfall but there are countless other provincial priorities that could put additional funding to good use – health care, education, job development, tourism and the list goes on.

The Liberals are running a tag line on their website today – “What Leadership is”. How ironic.

I was recently sent a list compiled by Marilyn E. Taylor of McGuinty-Wynne scandals and poor management practices. It clearly provides 101 reasons not to vote Liberal on June 12th.

Green Energy Act (20 billion)

eHealth scandal (almost 2 billion)

Gas plant scandal (1.1 billion theft and cover-up of our tax dollars)

Deleting e-mails

ORNGE scandal (700 million)

Ontario Northland Railway scandal (820 million)

Caledonia Hydro Line scandal (116 million)

Lobbyist scandal (two multi-million dollar scandals)

Eco-Fee Reversal scandal (18 million)

CancerCare Ontario scandal (millions of dollars)

Slush Fund scandal (32 million)

Niagara Falls Commission scandal

Ontario Power Generation scandal

Children’s Aid Society scandal

Nanticoke Coal Power Plant Shutdown scandal

G20 Secretly Approved Police Power scandal

Auto Insurance scandal

Foreign Scholarships scandal (our students pay the highest tuition in Canada while foreign students get free university educations)

Offshore Wind Turbines scandal

Samsung scandal (sole-sourcing)

Pan Am scandal (cost increase from 1.4 to 2.5 billion)

MPAC scandal (over and under-valuation of properties)

OLG scandal (millions of dollars)

Isotape Shortage scandal

Chemotherapy Dosage scandal

Payout for Pan Am CEO (250 million)

Trillium Wind Power and Sky Power Limited lawsuit (500 million)

Cement company lawsuit (275 million) – Quarry outside Hamilton was scuttled for political reasons

School bus service lawsuit

Augusta/Westland lawsuit as it pertains to ORNGE

Elliot Lake Collapse lawsuits (two lives lost due to recovery delays)

Ontario Medical Association lawsuits – applied to Superior Court alleging McGuinty not negotiating in “good faith”

Breast Screening scandal (ensuing lawsuits due to thousands of misread mammograms, one life lost)

Class-action lawsuit for autism funding cancellation

Over 650 new agencies, boards, commissions and entities such as LHIN’s and CCAC’s

Over 300,000 new public servants many of whom, are on the sunshine list

Public sector employment in health care increased by 39%

Public sector employment in social services increased by 39%

Public sector employment in education increased by 34%

Paying more Liberal taxes only to receive fewer services as taxes now being spent to pay the salaries and perks of newly-assigned, Liberal-friendly public servants

Gutted our manufacturing base (job growth across Canada except in Ontario)

Nearly one million Ontarians now out of work

Increased spending by 80% while our economy grew by only 9%

More than doubled our debt to 288 billion

Running a 11.3 billion annual deficit

Debt servicing costs will rise from 11.4 billion today to 14.5 billion once the debt exceeds 300 billion by 2017-18

Interest payments on our debt now the third largest budget expenditure after health and education

Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress confirmed that McGuinty’s Green Energy Act grossly underestimated the cost to consumers and overestimated the number of new jobs that would be created

Tax collectors getting 45,000.00 severance packages for switching job titles from provincial to federal

Two ministries under an OPP criminal investigation – ORNGE and gas plant scandals

Pharmacy war

Illegal green taxes

Increased smart meter, electricity, hydro, tuition and car insurance costs

Implemented tire tax, electronics tax, eco fee, health premium (tax), WSIB tax increase, HST, beer surtax

Failing grade on ADHD education

Ranking the lowest of all provinces for fiscal performance

Delisting eye exams, physiotherapy, chiropractic care, diabetic strips, etc.

Increasing wait time for cataract surgery

No longer covered for eye exams yet taxpayers paying for sex changes

Wait time for nursing home bed tripled

Failure to disclose elevated radiation levels

OES missed its collection and recycling targets by 59%

Not correcting the foreign ownership of our beer market

Acceptance of garbage striker extortion

Harassing labour inspectors

Kowtowing to green energy lobbies

Imposing blood alcohol rules that punish people who are not impaired

Public utilities donating to Liberals

Voting to cover up the Niagara Parks Commission scandal

Emergency room wait times not meeting provincial targets

Put on notice by Standard and Poor, credit rating downgraded, under a very serious credit watch

Have-not province for the first time in Canadian history

Borrowing more debt than any province except NB

Dramatic cuts in health care services in schools

Nurses getting bonuses despite a wage freeze

Insufficient senior homecare services

Failing grade of Family Responsibility Office

Abstained from vote to investigate CBC expenses

Cash kickback scheme involving government cleaning contracts

Talked about a two-year freeze on wages for public sector while previously giving the OPP a 5% wage increase – the OPP received another raise of over 8% in January, 2014

Energy now unaffordable yet we must pay Quebec and some north-eastern States to take our surplus energy

Encouraging farmers to build small-scale solar projects but having no way to connect them to the power grid

Laid up in US hospital beds as no beds available in Ontario

Refusing public inquiry into G20 fiasco

Giving those who hire only newcomers a 10,000.00 tax credit

Third highest user of food banks

Announced pay freezes knowing that 38,000 were getting a 3% salary increase after the election

Hiding hospital errors from the public

Teachers skipping classes to assist with anti-Conservative campaign

Failing grade in northern forestry management

Almost 40 C. difficile deaths to date

Loss of 6,500 cancer patient health records

Highest rent increase rate in years

Ignoring evidence that wind turbines can cause poor health

Workers at eHealth suing for not receiving bonuses

Liam denied eye care that another child is receiving under OHIP

Ontarians pleading for their lives or dying because they aren’t getting the health care they need

Lady with a brain tumor denied help to cover costs which costs are covered in Manitoba

Electricity rates to rise 42% over five years

Prior loss of 60,000 jobs in the horse racing industry – now attempting to correct this

Cleaning kick-back scheme that ended with the conviction of three persons (two of whom were employed by Wynne’s ministry at the time …)



Wind Turbine Host Slams NextEra for Corrupt Business Practices!

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Leaseholder speaks out against NextEra

Posted on 05/29/2014by 

OPEN LETTER TO: Premier Kathleen Wynne, Mr. Tim Hudak, Ms. Andrea Horvath, REA

Being landowners who were fraudulently scammed into signing an option/lease for wind development in 2011, the terms and conditions of which we remained unaware until October 2013 when we were first given the document, then officially threatened with legal proceedings and financial ruin coercing us into signing the NextEra lease in February 2014, we would like to outline our experience of meetings with Company contacts (CanAcre for NextEra) in the last three weeks.

Nexterror Bullies Canada IncAs yet, we have not received a copy of the lease complete with a NextEra signatory as we should have by now. May 6th a representative arranged to meet to discuss the location of a collection line . .. part of NextEra’s design for our property for which we were offered no opportunity to give input. The point of this meeting was unclear as no concerns of ours were taken into consideration, the placement of the intended line would most surely harm and possibly kill a mature windbreak of spruce and cedar and at the meeting conclusion, we were informed that in the next few days a “survey” and the planting of stakes would take place.

The lease states that the Lessee (that’s NextEra) shall consult with Lessor with respect to siting the Works and to act fairly and reasonably in so consulting. We had never been consulted. Ever.

In response to our written objection, the CanAcre representative scheduled “another look”. This meeting on May 12th lasted another 2 hours. Our concerns were discussed with construction personnel although the location of the collection line as related to the windbreak remained unresolved. We learned that no documents are provided to landowners without a specific request and from experience we can state they are often not provided after being requested. Another meeting was scheduled for May 21st to which they promised to bring documents as requested.

Again at this 3rd meeting the requested complete Lease was not produced. However a map we had not seen before indicated archaeological finds had been made, new information to us, finds made without our authorization to enter the land in the summer of 2011, a flint point credited with the qualities of those used 10,000 years ago. Now we could see that the electrical conduit placement was intended to avoid a large area around where the flint had been found and as a result endangered our trees. We finally understood that the NextEra layout designed in Florida was nonnegotiable and actual locations unknown by anyone until GPS points were staked. .. what CanAcre had been calling “surveyed”. Stakes would be a huge inconvenience during planting and a major problem for managing these organic fields needing scuffling through the season. Since the Goshen Project has not received REA approval and construction cannot begin until it does, we would not agree to the completion of the survey at this time. It had been repeatedly stressed that planting be allowed without the impediment of these stakes.

The next day the CanAcre rep phoned to indicate he would deliver our requested lease at 10 am. May 23rd and would be accompanied by an “expert in leases”…. !! On May 23rd he did not have the lease. The ‘lease expert’ turned out to be a CanAcre manager who had his own agenda, that being to spend another two hours reviewing our concerns indicating cooperation and the best possible outcomes before stating flat out that unless we allowed the survey to proceed, the proper care and attention to our concerns could not necessarily be given! This argument was lobbed strongly and repeatedly at us and capped off with his assurance that he would continue to harass us until verbal permission for the survey is given.

Since June 2011, we have been swindled, deprived of documents and information we should have been given, lied to, told one thing and then the opposite by CanAcre reps, and wasted endless hours. Of greater significance is the Horrendous Deception throughout…. that there are no health effects attributable to these Turbine farms, that they are Green, that they do not affect property values, that they will not interfere with farm operations……

And we know all that to be UNTRUE. The Ontario Government and REA need to close this system down!

Sincerely,

Bev Teeter

 

More Sneaky Underhanded Tricks From Kathleen Wynne, and the Liberals!

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Kathleen Wynne’s $317MM Secret Bailout

MAY 29

“Kathleen Wynne approved a $317 million bailout to a private company without the public’s knowledge or approval of the Legislature,” said former Ontario PC MPP Frank Klees. “She needs to explain why this secret deal was never made public.”

This morning, Klees released a series of confidential Cabinet documents outlining Kathleen Wynne’s secret plan to bailout the MaRS office building in downtown Toronto.

“Kathleen Wynne approved a multi-million bailout without the public’s knowledge and in a Cabinet room right before an election,” said Klees “Not only was this hidden from the public, she needs to explain why this secret deal was made after she dissolved the Legislature.”

The McGuinty–Wynne Liberals gave $234MM to MaRS and Alexandria Real Estate, Inc. to build a brand new office tower on prime real estate in downtown Toronto. Now that the private company and MaRS are unable to repay their loans, the government is using tax dollars to secretly bail them out to avoid political embarrassment.

The documents go on to say that failure to act will likely result in MaRS defaulting on its loan, causing foreclosure.

“Kathleen Wynne approved this deal in secret to avoid another public embarrassment for her scandal-plagued government,” said Klees, “Kathleen Wynne will do and say absolutely anything to cling to power, no matter what the cost to Ontario taxpayers,” Klees concluded.

“These documents read like a repeat of the Ornge documents that were sent to me by whistleblowers who could no longer stand the corruption that was going on there,” said Klees, “Millions of taxpayer dollars poured into a federally-incorporated charity, with no government oversight.”

 

The government will justify taking over the MaRS Phase II project by making the currently un-leased office space in the MaRS building home to the Ontario Public Service at prices that will not have to be put to competitive scrutiny.

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS

http://ontariopc.com/files/treasury-board-of-cabinet-submission-mars-phase-2.pdf

http://ontariopc.com/files/mars-phase-2-briefing-for-secretary-of-cabinet.pdf

http://ontariopc.com/files/backgrounder-mars.pdf

Liberals Desperate to Deflect Blame!  

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EXPOSING LIBERAL HALF-TRUTHS —

THE HARRIS HOSPITAL CLOSURE MYTH

Burlington Post — September 2009

The Ontario Liberals have quietly pushed their tall tales, saying the PC government under Mike Harris gutted Ontario’s health-care system.

Their tales go beyond spin and enter the realm of self-serving lie. It is most telling that the Liberals never bring this lie into public debate, they merely use it as part of a whisper campaign, repeating it until it begins to take hold among the general populace.

For example, references to hospital closures that I’ve found suggest that in total the Liberals claim that the PC government closed 39 hospitals in Ontario. They arrive at this number in two ways. Several places in Ontario, including Thunder Bay, Cobourg, Peterborough and Sault Ste. Marie, had two aging hospital facilities. The PCs closed these old, outdated hospitals and built new ones.

The Liberals have lied by omission, in failing to account for the new hospitals that were built in Ontario, some to replace aging buildings and several entirely new hospitals to serve growing populations. By my count we closed 12 hospitals in this manner and opened 17 new ones.

In addition, several hospitals located in close proximity were amalgamated to save on administrative costs. For example, Oakville Trafalgar, Milton District and Georgetown hospitals were amalgamated into Halton Healthcare Services. Liberal Party math says we closed three hospitals. The truth is we simply streamlined the costs — the facilities never closed. We repeated this in major urban centres across Ontario.

The truth is we streamlined costs, opened new facilities to replace aging buildings, significantly grew health-care facilities and increased services in Ontario.

The Liberals conveniently forget the PC government opened new facilities across the province to house 20,000 long-term care patients, people who were taking spaces in acute-care hospitals. In addition, we upgraded existing long-term care facilities for 16,000 Ontarians.

This isn’t only about hospitals. If the PCs gutted health care, how do they explain the expansion of nursing positions? How do they explain our creation of home-care services? How do they explain our substantially-increased funding for cardiac and cancer care and expanded cancer care centres across Ontario? How do they explain 52 new MRIs the PCs brought to Ontario where only 12 existed and the addition of 55 CT scanners? At what point does partisan political spin damage our society? At what point do lies like this get punished by voters?

Ted Chudleigh is the Conservative MPP for Halton.

To read a detailed listing of the exact names and locations of the hospitals, see our previous post here…..

HosptialPage-2

The Liberals have lied about the Conservative’s Platform!!

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MATT YOUNG DENOUNCES FEAR MONGERING ABOUT PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS

Photo: Ottawa Citizen

During an all-candidates’ debate hosted by Rogers on May 27, PC candidate for Ottawa South Matt Young refuted misinformation being spread about public service job losses. “We’re not going to touch public safety. Our platform makes it clear. We’re going to hire more nurses and more doctors” he said, adding that a PC government will focus on hiring more front-line workers to improve the services that we all rely on.

“There has been a lot of misinformation out there,” he said, adding that out of Ontario’s 1.1 million public sector employees, 50,000 retire or quit each year, so it’s easier to reduce 100,000 jobs over four years by hiring one person for every two who retire.

“You don’t have to destroy our economy to provide good services,” he told his opponents. The PC plan calls for lower taxes, affordable energy, job creation, better services like healthcare, and a balanced budget. This will ease the burden on households and get Ontario businesses back to the province.

Rogers is re-broadcasting the debate on Monday June 2 at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday June 3 at 8 p.m., and Sunday June 8 at 6 p.m.

Two other debates are scheduled:

– Canterbury All-Candidates Debate: all candidates’ debate at Hillcrest High School this Thursday, May 29th, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m

– Ottawa Muslim Coordinating Council: all-candidates’ debate at the Jim Durrell Recreation Centre on Walkley Road on Monday, June 2nd from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Please share this page with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter. Let’s all work with Matt for a better Ontario.

Ohio Puts Brakes On Green Energy “Targets”! Finally!

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Posted: 4:04 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Ohio House passes green energy freeze

Bill puts a hold on standards adopted five years ago.

Sponsored Links

By Laura A. Bischoff

Columbus bureau

Columbus —

A controversial bill moving swiftly through the GOP-controlled General Assembly would put a hold on green energy standards and set the stage for dismantling an energy law that took effect just five years ago.

After more than an hour of passionate debate, the Ohio House voted Wednesday 53-38 in favor of Senate Bill 310, which calls for freezing renewable energy benchmarks and energy conservation measures for the next two years. The vote fell largely along partisan lines with Democrats opposing the bill and Republicans supporting it. State Rep. Ross McGregor, R-Springfield, was among a handful of Republicans to vote no.

The Ohio Senate then quickly voted 21-11 in favor of the House changes. State Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, opposed the bill and the House changes.

A law passed in 2008 during the Strickland administration requires utilities to get 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewable sources and assist customers in reducing energy usage by 22 percent by 2025. The law proscribes benchmarks to hit between now and 2025.

Senate Bill 310 would freeze those requirements at current levels for two years while a legislative committee studies the issues. It would also eliminate a requirement that utilities obtain half of their renewable energy from in-state sources.

Ted Ford, president and chief executive of Ohio Advanced Energy Economy, said in a written statement: “Ohio is poised to become the first state in the nation to move backwards on renewable energy and energy efficiency standards. This despite the fact that data from public filings of utility companies themselves show that these standards are saving money for customers.”

“The two-year freeze clearly sends a message to investors that this market is uncertain,” said Dayna Baird, lobbyist for the American Wind Association. She added that the mandate that 50 percent of renewable energy come from Ohio has been driving investment in wind farms in the state. Tossing out the mandate before the study group gets underway is “illogical,” she said.

The bill has divided business groups. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the NFIB Ohio are behind it but opponents include the Ohio Manufacturers Association, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, AARP Ohio, Honda of America and environmental groups. Utility companies did not testify on the bill in the House or Senate.

Eric Burkland, president of the Ohio Manufacturer’s Association, issued a letter to House members urging a no vote. “The inevitable outcome…will be higher electricity costs for business and residential customers,” he said.

Proponents of the freeze say adhering to the benchmarks will lead to rate spikes. They also say conditions have changed since the standards were put in place. Natural gas prices have gone down and the state has seen new shale oil and natural gas discoveries.

State Rep. Peter Stautberg, R-Anderson Twp., said the mandates are “simply not achievable or sustainable” and that Ohioans don’t need anyone to tell them that turning off the lights when they leave a room will cut their energy usage.

Opponents, which include environmental groups, clean energy business interests and some manufacturers, say the renewable energy and conservation benchmarks set in the 2008 law have already saved utility customers more than $1 billion on their bills, slashed pollution and avoided the need for costly power plant construction.

State Rep. Mike Foley, D-Cleveland, and other Democrats scolded supporters of the bill, saying that abandoning renewable energy standards is environmentally irresponsible given the evidence of climate change. “This is a legacy vote. It’s a vote that we’ll all be judged on for years to come,” Foley said.

Republicans in the Ohio Senate initially wanted to scrap the renewable energy standards entirely.

Backers of the Buckeye Wind Farm in Champaign County have warned that the move to put the brakes on renewable energy requirements will chill green energy investment in Ohio and make it tougher to sell wind power in Ohio.

Seventy-percent of Ohio’s electricity is generated using coal, 16 percent comes from natural gas and 12 percent is from nuclear generation. Very little is generated from hydroelectric, solar and wind power.

Under current energy law, utilties must:

  • Buy 12.5 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2025
  • Meet benchmarks along the way
  • Help customers reduce energy usage by 22 percent by 2025
  • Get half of their green energy from in-state sources by 2025

Senate Bill 310 would:

  • Freeze the renewable standards requirements at current levels for two years
  • Set up a legislative study committee
  • Eliminate the requirement that half of green energy must come from Ohio sources
  • Allow large industrial customers to opt out of the conservation requirements and self-report efforts made to cut energy use.

Ontario Pension Plan….another cash cow for Liberals?

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Philip Cross: Ontario’s proposed pension

plan is riddled with faulty assumptions!

Philip Cross, Special to Financial Post | May 27, 2014 | Last Updated:May 28 8:16 AM ET

Simply asking people if they’d like to save more does not, by itself, demonstrate insufficient savings.

FotoliaSimply asking people if they’d like to save more does not, by itself, demonstrate insufficient saving

Traditionally Ontarians have one of the highest personal saving rates in the country

The Ontario government’s proposal to supplement the CPP with its own compulsory pension plan is based on a series of faulty assumptions.

A fundamental but unproven assumption is that people are not saving enough for their retirement. Another faulty assumption is that workers can’t make the link between insufficient saving and retirement, and unwittingly retire without enough to secure their retirement – people behave as if they’re richer than they really are, a self-delusion that only exists in economic models. A third assumption is that governments can mandate higher household saving, when the evidence is that other savings fall when government raises mandatory public pension taxes.

The government assumes that large pension plans always generate higher returns and minimize risk, although Quebec’s public pension plan demonstrates just the opposite. It is also assumed that investment is currently constrained by a lack of saving, and any increase in saving will boost investment. Finally, there is an assumption that higher investment automatically boosts productivity. All of these assumptions are questionable if not downright incorrect.

It is ironic that Ontario stresses that people are not saving enough when traditionally Ontarians have one of the highest personal saving rates in the country. From 1990 to 2008, Ontario’s personal saving rate was always higher than the rest of Canada. After the 2008 recession, Ontario more than doubled its saving rate to 6.8%, much higher than the 4.4% rate elsewhere in Canada.

Related

The household saving rate in Ontario uncharacteristically has returned to the national average, reflecting the pressure on households to stretch every dollar to sustain their living standard. This squeeze on household finances exists despite lower interest rates, which saved about 2% of income from servicing debt. However, income growth has been so weak in Ontario that people had to lower saving to maintain consumption.

It isn’t that Ontarians lack sufficient income to save after making their everyday expenses, the government believes. Rather, Ontarians don’t save more due to the same lack of discipline in managing finances that the government displays. To support its case, the budget cites polls of people wishing they could save more. Of course, the vast majority of people, if asked, would also say they would like better homes and cars, more travel and entertainement and so on. Simply asking people if they’d like to save more does not, by itself, demonstrate insufficient savings.

The underlying problem in Ontario is that real per capita incomes fell over the last two years, their first such declines since the early 1990s. The squeeze on household incomes means saving more would require cutting back on spending, a logic that households in Ontario seem to understand better than their government. In such an environment, raising mandatory saving will not boost household saving, as people will reduce other forms of saving (like RRSPs) to maintain their standard of living. This is what happened in the late 1990s, the last time mandatory pension taxes were increased.

The ideal scenario is stronger income and job growth, which would allow both spending and saving to increase. Instead, the higher taxes required for the Ontario pension plan will depress household income and spending. The Ontario Budget glosses over the implication of employees paying 3.8 percentage points more on nearly twice as much income as the current CPP. It will cost individuals up to $3,420 a year, or nearly $7,000 for a working couple. About three million Ontario workers will be affected.

The government believes that more saving would benefit the economy by increasing investment, despite no evidence that investment is currently limited by a lack of saving. In fact, firms have increased their saving substantially over the past two decades. Given the high internal saving of firms, how would more household saving increase business investment? A lack of profitable opportunities has discouraged business investment, not a lack of funds. It is noteworthy that investment has floundered the most in Ontario and Quebec, where a hostile environment to business has prevailed. Large government deficits also inhibit investment, since they promise unknown but inevitable tax hikes and spending cuts in the future.

There are also several flaws in the design of the management of the Ontario pension plan’s assets. Because the fund will be very large, its investments necessarily will be concentrated in fewer areas than individual investors would make on their own. This exposes the fund to the risk of a spectacularly poor investment decision, as happened to the Quebec Pension Plan in 2007, potentially offsetting whatever efficiences are gained from lower management costs.

The fundamental problem behind the Ontario government’s thinking about all economic problems – whether a perceived lack of saving, low business investment or changing the distribution of income – is that it has forgotten how rapid economic growth addresses all these problems without pitting one group against another over the table scraps left from meagre economic growth. Higher growth also would reduce the government deficit, the largest contribution to higher saving the Ontario government can make. It is time for Ontario to adopt policies that encourage growth.

Philip Cross is the former Chief Economic Analyst at Statistics Canada and the author of the Fraser Institute’s evaluation of the proposed Ontario Pension Plan.

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