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www.insideHALTON.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Thursday, April 6, 2017 | 24 H ydrobills not an issue for hospitals or m unicipality: M ayor Burton continued from p.16 eight per cent rebate introduced in January. As part of this plan, rate increases over the next four years would be held to the rate of inflation for everyone. When the Oakville Beaver asked Sawyer after the meeting if any Chamber members had concerns on the new plan, he said more clarification is needed, but if there is a criticism, it' s to "get us the details" quickly, so they can be given to members for review. "We're still waiting for some clarification on what it actually means to business. Those details are being sorted out," said Sawyer. He noted there was a "real diversity" of Oakville businesses represented in the roundtable discussion -- from small manufacturing and retail operations to "giants," such as Ford Motor Company of Canada and Siemens. "It was very good for the minister to hear them directly, which is why we do this. He was very good at answering the questions directly. We know our voice has been heard," said Sawyer. Because some Oakville Chamber members didn't know if they qualified for the 25 per cent reduction, Thibeault said the meeting allowed him to clarify -- "If you're a time-ofuse customer, just like you are at home, if your business is a time-of-use customer, you will also see the 25 per cent reduction." He also encouraged small businesses to take advantage of money- and energy saving programs offered through local utility companies, including Oakville Hydro. While Opposition Leader, head of the Ontario New Democrats Party (NDP), Andrea Horwath has publicly criticized the plan for not offering relief for hospitals, Thibeault offered a rebuttal at Thursday' s media scrum. He said hydro costs represent just one per cent of a hospital' s operating budget. "Yes, their bills have gone up just like everyone else' s in the province, but you haven't heard any hospital come out and say there are direct layoffs or anything to do with that because of electricity bills," said Thibeault. He noted Sudbury' s hospital participated in a local utility energy-saving program that cost $275,000, but it received a significant portion of it back and is now saving $500,000 a year on hydro. He then stated hospitals, schools and municipalities, in general, will see a four per cent reduction in cost as a result of the plan. "It' s a modest reduction, but it still is something coming off," said Thibeault. "While we recognize rates have gone up, this wasn't an issue we were hearing from many of the hospitals, but we did put programs in place to help them." Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, a member of Halton Healthcare' s board of directors, confirmed hydro accounts for a small percentage of a hospital' s operating budget. He also noted Halton Healthcare has received increased funding to reflect growth, so "we've been well-looked after in the hospital sector, as of late." "We run three hospitals (Halton Healthcare). Hydro costs have actually never come up. There are important issues in front of us and this isn't one of them," Burton told the Beaver Friday, March 31. Hydro isn't an issue for the Town either, according to Burton, as it is converting its streetlights to high-efficiency, light-emitting diodes (LED), which is almost complete. Oakville is saving "so much money that it' s not an issue for us, either." "This government has been very good about dealing with issues and solving them for us. I'm marveled that our government, (which) could do so much good, could be ranked so low in the polls," said Burton. While Thibeault acknowledged the Ontario Liberals' popularity numbers have dropped because of hydro costs, he said it doesn't govern based on "where we are in the polls, we govern by what we think is best for the people of Ontario." "It was never too late, in my opinion, to do what is right for the people of Ontario. For us, that' s why we acted. We've been doing this for awhile," said Thibeault. "This plan, right now, helps us bring forward that 25 per cent relief -- the single-largest electricity bill rate reduction in Ontario' s history." S A V E o n T u b & C e r a m ic T ile R e g la z in g $ 1 0 0 O ff BATHTUB KING Canada's No. 1 Name in Bathtub Refinishing T U B + T IL E R E G L A Z IN G Discount applies to Residential only. 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