Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault had a message of encouragement for Northern Ontario residents as he made a stop in North Bay to highlight a local company which is making energy efficient homes.
Thibeault has been under the spotlight due to the high energy costs reported across the province, especially Cap and Trade which came into effect in January has been under severe scrutiny and even Mayor Al McDonald blamed the new program as the reason northern power plants like the Atlantic Power facility in North Bay have been mothballed.
“Those are incorrect facts and it’s not only coming from the government it’s coming from the financial accountability officer as well,” argued Thibeault at the media event held at the Holiday Inn Express just off the By-Pass.
“He is an independent legislature of the body of Queen’s Park and he has talked about our rates are right smack in the middle when it comes to rates across North America, so we do have rates that we are continuing to find ways to reduce and that’s one of the things that the Premier has talked about but what we are here today to talk about is the insulation and conservation that can happen at homes.”
McDonald met with the Energy Minister prior to Wednesdays media event.
“It costs us over $100,000, we talked about not only Cap and Trade but we also talked about Atlantic Power and the 10 good paying jobs that were in the community,” said McDonald.
“They have mothballed the plant to we are continuing to work with them and Atlantic Power in the near future so that’s all I can say at this point,” added McDonald noting there was some positive news coming out of the meeting that he could not discuss yet.
Thibeault also pumped up the savings that Ontarians will be able to access through the Ontario Electricity Support Program, which allows for discounts for low income home owners in the province to access. That message needs to get out.
“We need to engage those people, we need to let them know that the programs that are out there so they can qualify or at least apply for those programs but at the same time it’s important for us to listen and it’s important for us to hear what they are saying and to look if there are any other solutions that we can bring forward,” said Thibeault.
The Province’s Energy Minister met with the owners of SuperShell, a North Bay business that builds energy efficient homes around the north.
Thibeault believes projects like this are moving the province in the right direction in the provinces battle against Climate Change.
“We recognize, especially here in the North, where we see climate change first hand where we used to have ice roads for 77 days a little bit north of here, we are now stretching to get it 23 so we know we need to do something and creating these types of innovative solutions I think is an opportunity for us,” said Thibeault.
The Energy Minister wrapped up his event just before noon while later in the day his boss, Premier Kathleen Wynne, is expected to visit Nipissing University and Canadore College later in the day.
