Peterborough chapter activists Roy Brady and Kathryn Langley have been vocal opponents of the proposed sale of PDI.
Council of Canadians Peterborough chapter activist Roy Brady is upset by the misrepresentation in a City report of a public meeting on the sale of PDI.
The chapter is against the proposed sale of Peterborough Distribution Inc. (PDI), the city-owned utility that distributes electricity in Peterborough, Lakefield and Norwood, to the provincial electricity transmission and distribution utility Hydro One. The provincial government is now in the process of selling 60 per cent of the provincial utility to private interests. In April, an Environics poll found that 93 per cent of Peterborough residents are also opposed to the sale of PDI to Hydro One.
The Peterborough Examiner reports, “One citizen at the [city] council meeting on Monday was upset about the city staff report that summarized a public meeting in March about the potential sale of PDI. Roy Brady said he thought a recent report to council from [City CAO Allan] Seabrooke was a ‘very, very slanted and biased report’. ‘It was obviously slanted toward, We’re going to sell PDI’, Brady said. …Brady said the citizens’ responses to the idea – all of them negative – were summed up in point form while the perspectives of Hydro One and PDI leaders at the meeting were written out in full paragraphs. ‘Hydro One got 17 pages of pure propaganda’, Brady said. ‘It was just like a long commercial. It was very irresponsible to do this.'”
The article adds, “Seabrooke, who wrote and submitted the report, was at the meeting and heard Brady speak. He didn’t respond to any of those allegations.”
In addition, the newspaper notes, “The city will spend roughly $33,000 to hire both a Toronto law firm and a specialized consultant to further evaluate an idea to sell the city-owned utility to private investors. …Seabrooke told council that for $33,000, it can expect to get both an overview of the energy sector’s future and some advice about whether to sell.”
For my blog on that public meeting in March 2016, please see Peterborough chapter speaks against PDI sale at public meeting.
For five other blogs on this fightback, please click here.
