Deborah Matthews

Toronto News September 16, 2016

Opposition says government hydro rebates not enough

Following Monday’s throne speech, the provincial legislature remains divided on the Liberal’s promise to reduce electricity costs for average Ontarians.

As announced in the throne speech, Ontario’s Liberal government will provide an eight per cent rebate on hydro costs, equal to the provincial share of the 13 per cent HST. Eligible rural customers will receive a rebate of 20 per cent each month, according to the throne speech. Laurie Scott, Progressive Conservative citizenship, immigration and international trade critic, argued in question period on Thursday that the rebate will not be enough for low income Ontarians.

“In my riding (there are) thousands of people who can’t cope with the stress of making their hydro payments,” Scott said.

Toronto News September 16, 2016

NDP criticizes Ontario government hydro rebate and child care plans

The leader of the NDP believes the Liberal government plan for hydro rebates and child care falls short of Ontario families’ expectations.

In Monday’s throne speech, the Wynne government announced an eight per cent hydro rebate to Ontarians and unveiled its plan to open 100,000 new child care spaces in 2017.

Andrea Horwath, the Ontario NDP leader, questioned the seriousness of the Liberal plan.

Toronto News September 16, 2016

Opposition says Wynne government abandoning children with autism needs

The leader of the Progressive Conservatives says the Ontario Liberal government has misled parents of autistic children about treatment.

In the spring, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced that the Ontario provincial government would deal with a backlog of about 3,500 children with autism. The children were considered too old for effective intensive behavioural intervention (IBI) treatment. The government offered a one-time grant of $8,000 for those not on the treatment list.

Toronto News September 16, 2016

PCs criticize Ontario government approach to hydro rates

The Ontario Progressive Conservative leader is critical of the Liberal government’s planned hydro rebates, but even more so of its planned sell-off of Hydro One shares.

At Queen’s Park on Thursday, MPP Deborah Matthews defended Liberal plans to offer hydro rebates for Ontario’s urban and rural regions. PC Opposition leader Patrick Brown reiterated his position after Monday’s throne speech.

“For the last two days, I have said that if the Liberals actually wanted to get hydro rates under control, they should stop signing ludicrous contracts,” he said.