Ford tells We Own It supporter he won’t privatize all of Hydro One
In last week’s edition of The We Own It Weekly, we ran an article from The Toronto Star speculating that Premier-elect Doug Ford would sell off the rest of Hydro One.
One of our campaign supporters decided to find out if the speculation was true, so he wrote a note to Ford on Ford’s Facebook page:
“There are rumours that you are thinking of selling the rest of the shares of Ontario Hydro. Don’t even think about it!” our supporter wrote.
“If you sell our shares you will be considered a failure from the start. We need to control our Hydro prices and selling off the shares will destroy the citizens of Ontario and any hope of getting industry to move here.”
Ford’s reply was short and unequivocal: “Not remotely true.”
When we asked our supporter if it was OK to reprint his note and the reply, he said:
“Sure go for it. We need to ensure he stays true to his word and is accountable.”
Privatized probation a disaster in the UK
Even Conservative politicians in the United Kingdom are admitting that a scheme to partially privatize probation services is “a mess.”
According to The Guardian, a report by a Parliamentary justice committee led by a Conservative MP has found that the scheme has resulted in disappointing reductions in reoffending, complicated delivery of services, a failure to open up the probation services to charities and volunteer organisations, low morale among staff, and remote contact between probation workers.
“This has a negative impact on the number of individuals who go on to reoffend,” said Conservative MP Robert Neill. “Hard working and dedicated staff are doing their best with a probation system that is currently a mess.”
Energy analysts warn that Puerto Rico privatization doomed to fail
Writing in The Hill, energy analysts warn that the proposal to privatize the power grid will fail most of the people in Puerto Rico.
“We fail to see how the proposed privatization would result in a more affordable, resilient, or financially sustainable electrical system,” the analysts write. “The privatization plan that the legislature has produced has no clear policy vision, lacks a commitment to energy planning, and creates yet more opportunity for politics to interfere in the negotiation and enforcement of contracts.”
Visit www.weownit.ca for more information
Every week, OPSEU’s We Own It campaign publishes a newsletter called The We Own It Weekly. It’s a round-up of news and information about the growing movement to protect communities from privatization.
To receive the newsletter directly, you can sign up for it on the We Own It website. You can also keep in touch with the campaign through its Facebook page and Twitter feed.