Ontario

The head of the LCBO is managing a public crown corporation at the same time as he sits on the board of a big business lobby group that is actively lobbying Doug Ford’s government to privatize alcohol sales.

George Soleas, the President and CEO of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, a public crown corporation that generates $2.5 billion in revenue for Ontario taxpayers each year, also currently serves on the board of directors of the Retail Council of Canada.

The Retail Council of Canada, which bills itself as “the Voice of Retail™ in Canada,” is actively lobbying the Government of Ontario to privatize alcohol sales. The lobby group has recently been quoted in press releases issued by Doug Ford’s government endorsing their plans to privatize alcohol sales.

According to lobbying records, the RCC was lobbying provincial government ministries earlier this year on “the future of alcohol policy” – specifically on “how to increase choice and convenience for consumers.”

The Retail Council of Canada’s members include big corporations that would gain a substantial financial benefit from privatizing alcohol sales, including Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro and Walmart.

[Using Ontario tax dollars,] Enbridge Gas is starting construction of its $358-million natural gas pipeline in southwestern Ontario, which critics say “doesn’t even make economic sense” given the need to transition away from fossil fuels.

advocates criticized the investment in the new gas pipeline, arguing that it contradicts climate goals and is economically unsound.

“This is a bad investment,” said Keith Brooks, programs director at Environmental Defence.

“The science is clear. In a world that limits climate change to 1.5 degrees, there is no room for new fossil fuel infrastructure like a gas pipeline that costs over a third of a billion dollars. This project doesn't even make economic sense.”

Brooks noted the project relies on a 40-year revenue model, which he believes is unrealistic given the current energy transition. He pointed out that it is being subsidized by $150 million from existing gas users.

“It will likely cost all of Ontario's gas customers even more when it winds up a stranded asset and doesn't generate the revenue that Enbridge is banking on.”

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/22479165

The Ontario government is welcoming the start of construction by Enbridge Gas on its $358 million Panhandle Regional Expansion Project. The project is expected to secure approximately 7,000 jobs, enable $4.5 billion of investment opportunities in the province and support Ontario’s expansion of reliable, affordable and cleaner energy to power its growing economy.

This project will lead to the construction of approximately 19 kilometers of new pipeline that will parallel the existing pipeline and increase the capacity of Enbridge’s Panhandle Transmission System. The pipeline expansion is a vital investment in energy infrastructure that will encourage economic development in Southwestern Ontario and support the growth of the region’s vibrant world-leading greenhouse industry.

The new pipeline will also help supply the electricity generation needed to meet the province’s growing energy demands, due to increasing electrification, strong population and economic growth. Access to a reliable and affordable electricity supply is increasingly a key priority for companies, particularly those investing in large-scale manufacturing projects.

The Panhandle Regional Expansion Project is part of Ontario’s efforts to meet the province’s growing energy demands. As outlined in Powering Ontario’s Growth, Ontario has also secured Canada’s largest clean energy storage procurement, invested more than $1 billion in energy efficiency programs, is supporting the continued safe operation of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station and is building Canada’s first grid-scale Small Modular Reactor.

Quick Facts In May 2024, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) granted Enbridge Gas leave to construct (LTC) for the Panhandle Regional Expansion Project, permitting the project to proceed. The Panhandle Regional Expansion Project has a targeted in-service date of November 1, 2024, with additional construction related to the project to be completed in 2025. The Panhandle Transmission System currently serves residential, commercial, industrial, greenhouse and power generation customers in Dawn-Euphemia, St. Clair, Chatham-Kent, Windsor, Lakeshore, Leamington, Kingsville, Essex, Amherstburg, LaSalle, and Tecumseh. Ontario’s electricity system is among the cleanest in the world, powered by a diverse supply mix including nuclear, hydroelectric, renewables, natural gas and biomass. The Independent Electricity System Operator’s Pathways to Decarbonization Report forecasts that in less than 30 years, Ontario could need to more than double its electricity generation capacity from 42,000 megawatts (MW) today to 88,000 MW in 2050. Best Regards,

Office of MPP Kinga Surma

Relevant recent reporting: https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-enbridge-gas-municipalities/

Reminder that natural gas is marketing term for methane, a bi-product of fracking which is neither clean nor renewable.

Fifty-six child-care projects planned for schools across Ontario have been classified as "cancelled," potentially costing around $11 million in "sunk costs," according to a Ministry of Education document.

Nothing contributes more to the affordability crisis than low-paying jobs.

Like so much this premier does, the basic animating force appears to be a zealous desire to privatize, to hand over ever more of our province to private interests, to further cannibalize Ontario’s strong tradition of public services and public enterprises that have served the province well. Ford is following the path of former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris, whose needless privatizations produced some disasters for Ontario.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), a crown corporation, has been doing a fine job selling alcohol — not exactly a risky enterprise requiring a lot of innovation — through its 677 outlets across the province. And since it is publicly owned, its healthy annual profit — $2.5 billion in 2023 — goes into the public treasury, where it pays for things like health care and education. Ontarians have long seemed satisfied with this reasonable arrangement.

But business interests and the pro-business media have long been opposed. In an editorial this week, The Globe and Mail objected to the very existence of the LCBO, insisting that governments should raise revenue through taxes, not through competing with the private sector. Yet the Globe is quick to denounce any tax increase (certainly any tax increase that impacts corporations or rich people). Indeed, given the business community’s hostility to taxes, it would be quite a challenge to raise taxes enough to replace the $2.5 billion in revenue the government receives each year from the LCBO. Furthermore, it’s doubtful that Ontarians would want to pay higher taxes so that more profits from alcohol sales could go to highly-profitable grocery store chains.

The power to exclude students from school indefinitely, at a principal’s total discretion, comes from a little-known provision of Ontario’s Education Act, Section 265 (1)(m). It offers principals a broad, unspecified authority to bar “detrimental” individuals from the school or classroom. There’s no limit on how long a student can be excluded, and no stipulated requirement for schools to provide alternative support. (In Layla’s case, the PDSB had offered to cover child care costs for the period of exclusion.)

A student who is excluded under the provision is granted none of the contingencies or reprieves that accompany a suspension or expulsion. If a student in Ontario is suspended or expelled, they can find a clear roadmap for what should happen next: the process, from an appeal to an action plan to a hearing, is laid out in the Education Act. School boards are mandated to offer educational programs for both suspended and expelled students, and a student who is expelled must also be offered non-academic support, like counselling. If a student is suspended, the discipline is time-limited, and if they’re expelled, it’s the school’s duty to help find them an alternative plan.

Ottawa quietly enacted its new Digital Services Tax last week, the same day Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy wrote to his federal counterpart asking Ottawa to pause its implementation. Bethlenfalvy joins Power & Politics to discuss his concerns about the levy on foreign tech giants operating in Canada.

Toronto (CNW) – July 4, 2024 / More than 9,000 LCBO workers will be out on strike as of 12:01 midnight tonight after talks broke down at the bargaining table. OPSEU/SEFPO, the union representing the workers, has said all along that this round of bargaining is like no other.

“Doug Ford wants to make life better for his wealthy friends. It’s why he’s wasting upwards of a billion dollars of our money to fast-track privatized alcohol sales and hand more of the public revenues generated by the LCBO over to the CEOs and big box grocery and convenience chains like Loblaws and Circle K,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick.

When you buy from the LCBO, including spirit-based ready-to-drink beverages, that should help build Ontario – not pay for a billionaire’s new yacht.

Right now, 70% of LCBO workers are casual – they don’t have guaranteed hours, which means most won’t have access to benefits and there aren’t opportunities to move into permanent part-time and full-time positions. We want a better future for our members, the LCBO, and Ontario.

Via North-Shore.info