Save PDI chair and Council of Canadians Peterborough-Kawarthas chapter activist Roy Brady. Photo CHEX TV news report.
The Council of Canadians Peterborough-Kawarthas chapter opposes 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.
Peterborough-Kawarthas chapter activist Roy Brady has highlighted that the sale would mean a loss of local control, accountability and would likely lead to higher electricity rates. He says, “Selling off publicly owned assets like PDI is about nothing more than making a few people a lot richer at the expense of everyone else. But the people of Peterborough are well aware of this agenda and have clearly rejected it. That is why we are calling on the mayor and council to abandon this fundamentally undemocratic plan and do what’s right for the citizens of Peterborough.”
The Peterborough Examiner now reports, “Peterborough Utilities Group Inc. has issued an open letter to the city and its council outlining its responses to questions about the sale of PDI, its distribution wing, to Hydro One. The letter says it remains in the best interest of the city – and its people – to follow through on the sale. The letter was emailed to media late [yesterday] morning with an advisory that utility officials would make no further comment before a public meeting on the matter [tonight] at Market Hall. The meeting, which starts at 6 p.m., is when the city’s consultant, Navigant, is expected to speak to councillors about the offer.”
The article notes, “Brady, a local activist who wants to keep PDI in public hands, said he was unhappy with the letter. ‘Why bother having a democracy at all when we have such wise elites making a decision?’ he said.”
An Environics Research poll released in April found that 93 per cent of Peterborough residents oppose the sale of PDI.
After this evening’s meeting, City Council is expected to debate the sale on December 7 then make a final decision on December 15.
The Peterborough-Kawarthas chapter has been opposing the sale of PDI since the issue was first made public this past February.
The Council of Canadians has also been asking our supporters to write Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne through this action alert to demand that she rescind her plans to privatize Hydro One. The provincial government is now in the process of selling 60 per cent of the provincial utility to private interests.
For campaign blogs about the Peterborough-Kawarthas chapter’s interventions against the sale of PDI, please click here.
