CORNWALL, Ontario – Local MPP Jim McDonell has launched an online petition, seeking support from constituents and others opposed to the phasing out of natural gas heating in Ontario.
The governing Liberals have suggested they will move to eliminate natural gas heating in new home construction in an effort to curb the province’s carbon footprint.
“Under the Liberals’ misguided climate change plan, Ontarians will be deprived of their ability to choose a sustainable, affordable and efficient heating option,” McDonell, a Tory, said. “The province’s hydro rates have been artificially inflated by more than 300 per cent since the current government took office.
“We have one minister telling us to switch from electricity to natural gas in order to save money, while another minister tells us we will be forced back onto electrical heating. Rural municipalities and their residents have worked with stakeholders and distributors to make natural gas available to more communities, breaking hydro’s stranglehold over residents’ household budgets.”
McDonell accused the Liberals of forcing the hands of Ontarians.
“This latest energy initiative does nothing but impose the misery of higher electricity rates upon those Ontarians who had made a sensible economic decision by switching to natural gas heating. The Liberals’ plan is beyond misguided – it is tantamount to economic sabotage,” he said.
The petition is available online at www.jimmcdonellmpp.ca/petitions.
