(Oct. 4) Don Soule, writing for The Record, says political leaders need to stop funding projects that are mostly about buying votes.

Consider the following: Waterloo council seeks to hike its delivery charge for hydro by 18.5 per cent. Councils in Waterloo Region have used hydro profits to pay for many things that have nothing to do with maintaining a reliable power system. Things like RIM Park debt, new community centres, new city halls and environmental grants for who knows what. At the same time as we struggle with high costs for electricity, we hear about the government giving hydro CEOs raises that amount to 35 times more than raises seen by the average family.

Smart meters are deployed in Ontario and will cost Ontario ratepayers $1.5 billion. At the same time, the HST is introduced and hydro rates are increased. After a year of operation, the smart-meter program has not had a meaningful impact on shifting consumption to off-peak times and there are many complaints that hydro has become too expensive. Ontarians are paying significantly more than ever for hydro and will be saddled paying for the smart meters for decades to come.

The Ontario Energy Board has decided that it will take another $240 million a year out of ratepayer’s pockets so that it can boost its rate of return from 8.39 per cent to 9.85 per cent. I’m sure that many of us would love a guaranteed rate of return near 10 per cent on our personal savings and investments. Must be nice eh?

Experts tell us that electricity bills have almost doubled since 2003. But that’s not all. The organization Energy Probe tells us that we are headed for power rates that are going to double or triple if governments stay on their current path

The organization People for Education issued an alarming report showing that Ontarians pay more than $500 million in school user fees over and above the taxes that they pay for education. There are well-founded concerns that this practice threatens to create a system of “have” and “have not” schools.

Between 2007 and 2010, local councils have hiked water bills by 54 per cent, a rate that is nine times faster than inflation. Politicians tell us that the rate hikes are necessitated by the need to play catch up. While I couldn’t agree more with the need for a safe and reliable system, perhaps, over the years, council members could have declined to fund projects such as a new head office for Drayton Entertainment and, instead, put those dollars into our critical infrastructure needs such as water and power.

Property taxes are up — way, way up in fact — and look like they are poised to go up even higher. I’m limited to 600 words so I’ll skip the details.

There’s a pattern here. It seems that the default button for many politicians when faced with new costs is to raise taxes and/or user fees. I hear lots of discussion about rate and tax hikes but not enough about what spending is essential and what is not. Things like “should our governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the Pan Am games or would this money have better been used for infrastructure, education and health care?” Maybe we could avoid some of the increases in taxes and rates?

We are paying very high taxes and rates for hydro and water. Canadian household debt is at a worrying level. A recent survey found that 59 per cent of Canadians are living from paycheque to paycheque. Rising interest rates could put families and our economy on the edge. We need our political leaders to stop funding projects that are mostly about buying votes. If our essential services need increased funding, then do so, but get as many of the dollars as possible from the “nice to have” projects before taxes and rates are increased further.

Don Soule, The Record, October 04, 2010.