Ontario’s big, green assisted economic suicide plan
…this new plan, billed by the Liberals as a “once-in-a-lifetime transformation” for Ontario’s economy, may also prove the end of Ontario’s lifetime of economic progress. In an era where assisted dying is the big thing with Liberals, this could be the first case where it’s tried on a province.
The leaked cabinet document, reportedly signed-off on by Premier Kathleen Wynne, lists a jaw-dropping 80 or so policies including: The eventual ban on heating new homes and buildings with natural gas, with only electric or geothermal being legal; $4 billion to be doled out by a “green bank,” funded by carbon taxes, to subsidize retrofits of buildings to get them off natural gas; the requirement that homes undergo an “energy-efficiency audit” before they can be sold; and a stack of rules, regulations and handouts to get an electric car into every two-car household within eight years, including rebates, free electric charging, and plug-in stations at every liquor store. Naturally, there will be billions more in traditional government-spending programs on public transit, bike paths, upgrades for schools and hospitals, and “research” funds and centres of climate excellence, not to mention new ethanol fuel standards that will gratify the Liberals’ top corporate donors in the biofuel lobby.
All in the family: Wynne’s Brother-in-law the new CEO of EHealth, BUT he also has deep ties to the Wind Industry
Enviromentalisms a radical new age pagan concept that calls for the sacrifice of children and virgins to their various earth deities they worship during their stupid Earthday celebrations
Sounds like a fool proof plan to get voted into mandatory retirement. Could a HUGE pension increase be on the horizon? Who knows, this idea may gain traction in Toronto because to quote Einstein “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity and I’m not sure of the former”
This isn’t about the environment. I don’t think it is even about the thrill and benefits of raw power. This is Wynne’s personal war on the middle class. This is one hateful troll’s attack on anyone who she feels has made her feel bad about herself and her life choices. Every policy of this government seeks to demoralize or impoverish the middle class.
Aggressive pro-promiscuity and pro-gay proselytizing in education and reduced health care spending are intended to wear us down morally and emotionally. But the green energy policies are a more direct and physical attack: she is attacking our homes. Wynne is attempting to destroy the middle class’s greatest store of wealth by making homes unliveable and unmaintainable.
I really do believe that everything this government does now comes from a hateful homosexual’s twisted revenge fantasy. These policies are not about civil rights and saving the environment; these policies are about destroying individuals on a massive scale.
Speaking of socialism gone wrong, the following story is the perfect analogy for socialism (in general, and Venezuela and Ontario specifically come to mind). Kind hearted but misguided/misinformed persons try to help when help is neither wanted or needed:
Yellowstone Tourists Put Baby Bison in Car Over Fears It Was Cold. “They were seriously worried that the calf was freezing and dying” in May!! – http://time.com/4336506/yellowstone-tourists-bison-cold/
They “were from another country”. Apparently one that doesn’t have cold weather, or animals born outside.
Of course, the horrific outcome is yet another example of the law of unintended consequences:
Bison calf euthanized after tourists load it into back of SUV: – http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bison-calf-1.3585204
Oh how wrong you are ! People will soon be begging to live in “clean, green” Ontario. People will be happy to pay 33% of their incomes on energy … so long as it is “clean, and green”. Because everyone living in “clean, green” Ontario will live longer. In fact, scientists estimate the average resident of “clean, green” Ontario will live (on average) 120 years. And their lives will be free of all disease, which we all “know” is caused by fossil fuels. There will be no cancer, no diabetes, no heart disease … all because of the “clean, green” energy of Ontario. The population will get used to paying for their own “clean, green” immortality !
The regulations for mandatory retrofiting and energy audits will kill the used housing industry, the only growth industry left in deindustrialized Ontario.
The reaction , both immediate and at the polls, will seal the fate of this province for generations to come.
However, if you look at what occupies the local media and chatting classes there, it is not the immanent horror of economic collapse, no, they seem obsessed with the cool weather this economic armageddon will bring – in one of their coldest springs on record.
Don’t expect the Ontario electorate to engage in self survival and rid themselves of the profligate prasites tormenting them, they seem programmed to self-destruct.
I’ve always said it would take the heavy hand of tyrannical government to implement their narrowminded agenda, and take away freedoms from the population.
Green Fascism on display for all to see.
When I read something that insane, I immediately want to choke Wynne into oblivion, then I calm a bit and realize that ONTARIO IS GETTING WHAT IT RICHLY DESERVES.
I hate that we will all have to pay for that utter stupidity.
My message to Ontarians is get the hell out while you can, because with that bitch in power, it’s only a matter of time till exiting the province will not be allowed.
There is no limit, to the evil do-gooders will commit, in the name of helping you.
Note,they always know better.
They know how you shall earn your living,how you shall spend your money and how you shall apportion your time and effort.
Relentless and mindless, for your own good of course.
You cannot cure stupid,you can’t fix it either.
Banishment is the only peaceful solution.
Coates Island, as a haven for the dangerously helpful.
Or perhaps wall around Toronto.
Remember that “Charter of Rights” the progressives are so proud of?
Funny how it never seems to protect the citizen from government intrusion.
All this is doing is setting the stage for the destruction of the Ontario Liberal Party at the polls next election. My only hope is that the PCs spend their first term destroying everything these morons have implemented.
First they privatise electricity generation and distribution. Then they force people off natural gas and onto electricity or renewables. Sounds like a pretty ominous monopoly they’re building.
in fact, I suspect ye olde universe is finite, just a LOT bigger than what is visible. I also suspect the size is increasing, but still ‘measurable’.
humahn stoooopidity otoh knows utterly no bounds.
So, this Great Leap Forward in green energy is to transition home heating from an affordable, efficient natgas system to an expensive, inferior system. Amazing what a few thousand in donations can buy you these days – government contract to retrofit homes, home inspections, consulting, compliance, etc Quite the racket.
Beyond the obvious corruption and cronyism – does anyone still think this is about the environment – has anyone tallied up all the extra costs for upgrading the transmission and distribution? We know politicians never bother calculating the benefits of green energy but how about the risks? The increased electricity demand from electric cars and home heating must be massive. Add in that they plan to add unreliable, intermittent wind and solar instead of conventional base load power and you’ve got the potential for serious and disasterous grid instability. Remember the power outage of 2003 in the northeast…it can take days to get everything back on line. Then imagine that happening in the dead of winter with double or triple the draw that would likely trip the grid as fast as utility workers try to put the power back on line.
A corrupt politician ripping off her subjects is unethical, foolishly putting millions in danger is immoral.
well there you go. more evidence of how god**mn STOOOOOPID people can be. echos of ‘we’re from da gubbamint and we’re here to help’
up there with feeding the bears gee-they-never-attacked-anyone-before-what-happened.
does anyone still think this is about the environment
See my earlier post. This is not about the environment. I don’t think this is even about money or cronyism. This is revenge.
“Union Gas estimates that heating by electricity instead of gas will inflate the average homeowner’s heating bill by about 600 per cent”.
Only a sick and twisted mind could conjure up a plan like this; to force several m people to give up clean efficient natural gas heating, to switch to electricity. The old aside that Canadians could solve their carbon output if only they wouldn’t heat their homes, applies here; with this plan they wouldn’t be able to afford to.
And where is the electricity to be generated for this, plus 1 m electric cars Wynne foresees on Ont highways? Paving over all of SW Ont with wind turbines, forget about cropping altogether, couldn’t begin to make up the demand. Wind only blows when it blows, otherwise residents could sit around and wait for the power to come back.
Any of these Green fantasies would require a determined plan to upgrade and build new Nuclear capability, but nuclear also isn’t green enough for these zealots. No one has yet calculated the opportunity cost of not planning for future nuclear generating supply in Ont, but it will be
staggering.
Forget the NDP Great Leap, this is the most radical proposal ever to be attempted by a duly elected government in Canada. Sadly this could have been predicted last election, but urban Ont had their say.
I’m listening to the men installing ductwork as I switch from electric heat to propane. After I spend $18,000.00, we can be sure that in a few weeks she will announce the ban on propane furnaces.
I sent Wynnie another email, but we know she really isn’t listening to us.
My goodness that was a satisfying read. I hope Ontario sinks.
AND, the new PC leader in Ontario has himself signed up for the green fraud, like a total coward, when he *should* have been exposing the fraud. As Kate has said “Pleasing your enemies does not turn them into your friends”, and all that other good stuff.
Rot Ontario, rot. The only thing that will come out of his is that the rest of Canada will get to see what happens when you blindly follow the stupid ideologies of the left.
I actually don’t think politicians who propose these ideas are looking for vengeance or any other type of conspiracy. Mostly I think they are motivated by self interest and progressive ideology. So when someone comes along and feeds these interests *and* convinces corrupt politicians they need to do these things for good reasons – saving the earth and future children, for example – it absolves them of any lingering feelings of guilt. It then becomes easy to tax people and business into fuel poverty, reward cronies/government workers and pocket some cash and donations. I don’t think they ever consider the downside or thoroughly research the cost-benefit-risk. Not all politicians are very bright either. A couple knowledgeable questions and criticisms turns them into angry, name-calling trolls.
The quote, ” “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” would be more accurate if it said ” “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average politician.”
Maybe politicians need to learn from physicians, “First do no harm”
Or what trades-people learn in safety training: “Don’t become the second victim.” We Ontarians now have the honour of demonstrating to the rest of the world what the end game of progressive liberalism looks like. All take heed.
How come no one mentions the ‘N’ word in these discussions about Ontario Electricity generation?
I’ve thought for a while that NG days were numbered in Ontario. HST is just not enough tax and is becoming a direct competitor against electrical monopoly. With high electrical prices NG air conditioners are viable. Likewise self generating electricity with NG.
How come no one mentions the ‘N’ word in these discussions about Ontario Electricity generation?
Because the ‘N’ word is actually a way to solve the problem.
Ontario could solve a lot of problems by fully developing the ‘N’ word, perhaps with ‘T’ word reactors instead of ‘U’ word reactors. Hell, electric home heating and plug-in electric cars might even become practical with extensive ‘N’ word development.
But this is not about solving problems. This is about an angry lesbian’s hate-driven revenge and punishment fantasies.
Ontario’s generation fleet includes natural gas simple cycle and combined turbines. They account for approximately 28% of generating capacity in the province. These turbines operate at efficiencies of between 35% and 55%. http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/current-electricity-contracts/sc-cc
To move the power to residential and small commercial customers probably involves a further 8-10% in line losses.
Burning natural gas for home or business space heating with modern high efficiency furnaces can yield heat efficiency up to 95%.
Since Ontario made the decision to eliminate its baseload coal generating stations, natural gas has been playing a significant role in providing power to the province. Phasing out natural gas space heat in favour of electric heat in homes and businesses will replace 95% efficient use of natural gas with 45% efficient use, at least during those hours when natural gas generation is providing the marginal kW.h. It is true that use of geo-thermal technology can provide seasonal heating efficiency close to 300%, but the capital cost is prohibitive for most small residential or business users. Other than virtue-signalling for Ontario progressives, I don’t see any upside to moving away from natgas for space heating.
I have no doubt politicians and the chattering class would learn many useful things if they talked to the people who keep modern society humming along behind the scenes. But they never will since only high status citizens (celebrities, academics, high profile activists and journalists, other politicians) and those with fat wallets matter. Everyone else is supposed to shut up and do as they are told -or- leave. I suspect that leave will be the plan for anyone with ambition who can afford to move.
I do not believe that Ontario voters will turf mcwynne. they are soooo far in the stupid category, especially the big cities which decide elections, that they will be looking to Venezuela for enlightenment.
“Mostly I think they are motivated by self interest and progressive ideology”
How exactly can a technology whose short comings were well known 5000 years ago, be deemed to be “progressive”? Grandparents of the 19th century were readily acquainted with wind mills.
Insanity reigns supreme in Ontar-I-OWE. The electorate is brain dead, Wynne can have her way with them and no one can do a frickin’ thing about it. Add to that the Opposition who may as well leave the Legislature, go cry in the wilderness, the arrogant Liberals will not listen or acknowledge any ideas but their own.
If ever there were a need for an example of in your face and up your nether region,government knows best this is exhibit A. Hold onto your hats,the worst is yet to come.
The lure of free money taxing air is too great for statists to resist. The sheeple line up to be fleeced by their correctors, scoping out gender friendly spaces.
The poor don’t vote, so the neo SJW climate warriors have ditched them, instead hitting them hardest, adding to growing poverty amongst workers.
Just to make it a total rout on the poor, statists who know in their heart what they haven’t thought about in their head, will “help” the poor with higher minimum wages. Sure, that’ll help. Too bad 50% of nothing is nothing.
“Naturally, there will be billions more in traditional government-spending programs on public transit, bike paths, upgrades for schools and hospitals, and “research” funds and centres of climate excellence..”
Since they’ll be further crushing productivity with idiotic watermelonism, better to add onto all income support programs across the board, at all levels amongst dropping marginal tax revenue and anti-growth (just think of negative interest rates). I understand Venezuela has reduced their emissions too.
The “solution” is otherwise known as economic stagnation. $billions to phase out natural gas, now that coal has been sufficiently boondoggled? Electricity generated from what; I didn’t notice any commitment to nuclear power in these fools’ platitudes.
It’s all aimed at Toronto LIVs in the millions who have agreed to suspend reality to become good little libertarian socialists, doing their own thing at government direction, pretending someone else is giving them a free ride. Luckily most Canadians aren’t that politically dumb. Right?
this is completely off topic. how about 22% of the muslim immigrants to minnisota have TB. now just who the he ll and what the he ll are we letting in to Canada?
I just read an interesting article, the guy says if Hillary is elected and puts a stop to fracking, natural gas prices could go up to 4 or 5 times what they are now. Fracking is the most economical way to get nat-gas.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3975749-hillary-clintons-opinion-fracking-real-threat-shale-revolution?auth_param=17tq98:1bjmoe7:fbe0102984f80c0ac30e28d651c7ebac&dr=1#alt2
When I thought the degenerate Liberals could not be worse, they come up with this. This is pure lunacy.
One silver lining: once the Toronto latte-sippers face 3,000+$ monthly heating bills in winter, they’ll get a taste of the medicine they foisted on rural and northern Ontario for the last several years.
I heat with wood, thank God. But Wynne will probably ban that too.
Maybe politicians need to learn from physicians, “First do no harm”
Think again LC. Politicians have done away with that old way of thinking too. No need for physicians to heal us anymore when euthanizing us is so much more efficient and humane.
And they will still get equalization payments? The sooner Ontario goes bankrupt, the better for everyone else if for no reason other than people can see just how stupid politicians can screw things up. As the old saying goes, some people are born only to be a warning to others
The same question I have asked for years…..when are(or can they) the rest of the idiots in Canaduh wake up and build that fence around Ontari-OWE? They can’t sink fast enough.
Most wind and solar installations are backed up by – natural gas. Isn’t Wynne putting us into a circular problem by insisting that natural gas be replaced by electricity? This means that wind and solar will be backed up by electricity.
Make that “Assisted” suicide plan. As in, assisted by the Conservatives:
http://canadianlandowneralliance.blogspot.ca/2016/05/in-ontario-all-poor-folk-are-singing.html
The way I see it, this proposal is a stop gap to make up for the glaringly stupid mistake the government made in negotiating sweetheart contracts with the solar and wind producers. They are paying those producers 16x the going rate for electricity, regardless whether they produce electricity or not. These are long-term, unbreakable contracts, so for the foreseeable future, the government will have to prioritize the energy these producers supply to the grid.
On top of that Ontario has an over-supply of electricity, which the government is having to sell at a loss just to get rid of it.
Since they are losing money hand over fist, the only reasonable solution (from the government’s perspective), is to create demand in any way it can. So… shut down nuclear plants (which, I understand, is in the proposal), mandate that everyone buys electric cars and make everyone use electric heating by outlawing the use of natural gas heating. Presto! No more problem.
Our ideologically driven brain trust of a government has just ensured that everyone who has the means is going to flee Ontario. Venezuela, here we come!
“These are long-term, unbreakable contracts, so for the foreseeable future, the government will have to prioritize the energy these producers supply to the grid.”
I thought the supreme court of Canada ruled that government contracts were legally only as long as those politicians making them,were in office.
Anybody remember that ruling?
Contracts with government did not bind there incoming pollies.
Effectively ruling that governments were outside the law.
Ah, you’re right john robertson! Thank you for pointing that out! https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/cancelling-contracts-power-of-governments-to-unilaterally-alter-agreements.pdf
OR they just leaked a plan that is so far over the top that when
they reveal their “real” (just below over the top) plan, everyone
will say “Well that’s not as bad as they had planned….”
“I heat with wood, thank God. But Wynne will probably ban that too”
Absolutely, she is already planning that now. Quebec, I believe is also looking at this idea, and that must include a lot of citizens in rural Quebec.
Much of the wood delivered in Ont is on a cash basis, enough reason for Wynne to ban it, but Green zealots dislike it anyway.I see part of the proposal is to get gov’t “inspectors” into houses to see how energy efficient they are. I would not in any circumstances let Wynne know you have a wood burning stove. Since most wood heating is in the north and rural regions, Wynne doesn’t really consider it part of Ont anyway.
Ontario Liberals voters voted for this. They want it. Soon, they will enjoy a freezing cold winter of it.
I totally despise the Wynne Liberals and what they are doing to this province. We also have an official opposition party that has been completely silent on the Liberal hogwash. Why aren’t they hammering Wynne on this crap? It is after all their job to oppose. All we get from them is…..crickets. I am really beginning to think that Brown is the wrong guy for opposition leader. He should be making roasting Wynne daily. If they are just gonna be Liberal Light then whats the point? Fed up with the whole useless lot of them!!
this is only the first phase, phase 2 is giving all civil servants wage increases to compensate for the increase in hydro bills. the rest of the people of Ontario F.O.
This woman has to be arrested before there is nothing left to the province.
So premiere Wall should be appopletic. On the one hand Ont wants to continue to suck at the govt teat but on the other hand doesn’t want any of the NG from the west. Time for the west to get out.
Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite.
Every nation gets the government it deserves.
–Joseph de Maistre
So premiere Wall should be appopletic. On the one hand Ont wants to continue to suck at the govt teat but on the other hand doesn’t want any of the NG from the west. Time for the west to get out.
I predict recall legislation approved in every province within 5 years. Unemployed citizens will demand controls on unreasonable government. They will get it.
felis gracilis, good post. Your comments on efficiency were the first things that came to my mind as well.