Hudak calling hydro pamphlets ‘propaganda’

Ontario’s Conservative leader wants to know why premier Dalton McGuinty is spending a million dollars to try and explain the rising cost of hydro.

Queen’s Park is distributing a six-page pamphlet to homes across the province. It’s entitled “Electricity Prices are Changing. Find Out Why”. It’s technically a non-partisan document approved for release by auditor general Jim McCarter. But Tim Hudak calls it a propaganda campaign — saying what McGuinty should be talking about is the province’s $7 billion deal with electronics giant Samsung.

“The last thing we need is to spend a million dollars of taxpayers’ money on a propaganda piece saying ‘don’t worry be happy.’ I don’t think anybody is gonna buy that. More useful, and it would probably only cost you a buck, put the Samsung deal out in public. Let’s have a look at it.”

The pamphlet mentions $9 billion that have been committed to private investors, but doesn’t mention Samsung by name. Hudak says Ontario families are picking up the tab on what he calls a sweetheart deal.