Ontario's NDP Leader says she will make it her top priority to ensure no more families have their hydro shut off this winter.
The spring session starts Tuesday in the Ontario legislature, and Andrea Horwath wants to sever a clause in an omnibus bill that could come up for debate next week.
Bill 27, or the Burden Reductions Act, seeks to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses and amend the Ontario Energy Board Act, so the board has more control over what times of year customers can legally be cut off.
Both Horwath and the Ontario Conservatives have called on the government to separate that clause so it can be debated separately.
Energy Minister Glen Thibeault has sent local distribution companies a letter asking them not to shut off customers, but Horwath says that is not good enough.
"They'll still be able to cut people off tomorrow, just like they were able to cut people off yesterday," she says.
Horwath could not say how many Ontarians have lost their hydro this winter because their accounts are in arrears, but she believes the number is high.
"I'm sure the number is in the thousands," says Horwath. "I know that my office in Hamilton gets several calls a day. When you think that there are 107 MPPs, there's definitely a serious problem."
"The solution Ontario families need is lower hydro prices," she says in a release to media.
"They're [the Wynne government] clinging to this omnibus bill, which is ridiculous. It's frankly disgusting that they would use these kind of Harper-style tactics to avoid some immediate relief," Horwath says referring to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.