Auditor’s Report shows government failing everyday people feeling the squeeze
QUEEN’S PARK – New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath says today’s report from Ontario’s Auditor General shows government is letting down everyday people struggling with tough times.
“Families are being told to pay more for everything from electricity to auto insurance and the government that’s supposed to protect them just isn’t doing their job,” said Horwath.
In his Annual Report Auditor General Jim McCarter found example after example of a government that’s let people down:
- Ontario drivers are paying the highest insurance premiums in Canada but insurers are guaranteed large profits based on a formula that is over a decade old – and the government is not conducting adequate follow-up to ensure accident victims are being compensated.
- Consumers who sign contracts with private electricity retailers are paying 35 to 65 per cent more for their electricity. 17,000 consumers have complained but only a limited number of enforcement actions have been taken.
- Consumers are left on the hook for the sudden cancellation of poorly planned private power deals like gas plants in Mississauga and Oakville.
- The government was unable to show which private career colleges were being inspected, and has stopped collecting information about graduation and employment rates, despite an obligation to do so.
“In these tough times, when people are told resources are scarce, this government needs to make everyday people a priority,” said Horwath. “Families expect a government to stand up for them and protect their interests and time and time again that just isn’t happening.”
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