Progressive Conservatives at Queen’s Park are calling on the Ontario government to finish construction on a power line that has cost consumers a combined $50 million on their hydro bills, despite the fact that the line has never been used.
The 76-kilometre line was built nine years ago to bring electricity into Ontario from Niagara Falls, N.Y. But a land dispute bewtween First Nations groups in Caledonia, Ont., and the provincial government has left Hydro One unable to complete the last five kilometres of the project.
Earlier this year, a CTV News investigation revealed that the $100-million infrastructure project might not have been needed in the first place.
Documents obtained by CTV News showed Hydro One wanted to charge Ontarians the entire cost of the powerline but Ontario Energy Board had rejected the application citing there didn’t seem to be a sound economic case for the project.
Conservative Energy Critic John Yakabuski has called the powerline “scandalous” and said that the line either needs to be finished, re-routed or written off so that taxpayers stop paying interest.
“There is going to have to be a time where the government is going to have to decide, are we finishing this line? Are we completing it and hooking it up so we are taking advantage the fact Hydro spent $100 million to build something?” Yakabuski said.
Caledonia area MPP Toby Barrett is also urging Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli to complete the project.
“Will he now use his new-found authority to secure an injunction to resume construction after nine years and complete and complete the wiring of these towers through Caledonia?” Barrett asked on Wednesday.
But local First Nations groups are still arguing among themselves about the situation.
One of the towers along the line was cut in half nine years ago, by a group of First Nations people protesting the project.
Authorities fear the use of force to complete the project could lead to violent confrontations.
Meanwhile, Caledonia residents have been furious with the Ontario Provincial Police and the government for standing by while the hydro project and others remain incomplete.
“There’s a land claim issue…that needs to be resolved by the federal government who has the responsibility for that,” Chiarelli said.
Ontario Minister of Aboriginal Affairs says he’s hopeful progress may be made in the future.
The Liberals are blaming the land dispute on the government of former prime minister Stephen Harper, saying the Conservatives didn’t sit down with First Nations groups in Caledonia at all since 2009.
With a report from CTV’s Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Paul Bliss
