speeding – mackaycartoons

Wednesday January 25, 2017

January 24, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 25, 2017

Why Kathleen Wynne might tackle hydro delivery charges to cut electricity bills

Premier Kathleen Wynne is signalling she may soon try to tackle the sky-high delivery charges that many Ontarians see on their hydro bills.

With her government bogged down by complaints about soaring electricity prices, Wynne and her advisers are scrambling to find ways to bring bills down.

Wynne telegraphed that delivery charges are in her sights during a speech last week, mentioning a letter she received from an Ottawa Valley man she named only as Lloyd,

“He wrote to me about delivery charges that make up 50 per cent of his bill,” Wynne told a business audience in downtown Toronto. She said Lloyd recently installed energy-efficient windows, and “feels like he’s being punished for the investments that he made.”

Wynne is phoning some of the people who write to her about electricity, including Lloyd.

“He has every right to be angry; that shouldn’t be happening,” she said. “At the end of the day, what people like Lloyd should be paying for is the electricity that they use.”

On average, the delivery charge makes up nearly 30 per cent of a typical residential hydro bill, but the amount varies widely from place to place. Different local hydro distribution companies charge different rates, unlike the cost of electricity generation, which is standard for all residential hydro customers in the province.

A typical Hydro One customer in a medium-density area pays nearly $68 a month for delivery — more than double the delivery charge for a Thunder Bay Hydro customer. The difference adds up to $409 a year.

Questioned by reporters after her speech, Wynne affirmed that delivery charges are on her radar.

“The delivery charge is something that comes up repeatedly,” she said. “I am hearing it consistently as I talk to people across the province.” (Source: CBC) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-hydro-delivery-charge-1.3948106

Maeanwhile, the Premier posted an open letter on Facebook Sunday attacking television personality Kevin O’Leary for erroneously claiming Ontario attracts lower auto investment than Michigan. (Source: Toronto Star)

Thursday February 25, 2016

February 24, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 25, 2016

The rising price of driving

Gas prices in Ontario will rise about 4.3 cents a litre and residential natural gas bills will go up about $5 a month under the Liberal government’s cap-and-trade plan.

Premier Kathleen Wynne said she expects the program won’t increase electricity costs for the industrial and commercial sectors. She revealed economic impacts Wednesday, a day before her government introduces its budget, which is expected to include more details about carbon pricing.

“The cost of doing nothing is much, much higher than the cost of going forward and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” she said. (Source: CP)

Meanwhile, Hamilton is in the midst of a $10-million-plus installation of cameras on the Red Hill Valley Parkway and at hundreds of major city street intersections in order to allow better signal and traffic control in emergencies.

But it turns out those cameras can track speeding cars, too.

Not enough to send you a ticket — the city deliberately chose an image resolution for the cameras that is supposed to be too low to allow eyeballing of your face, licence plate or curtainless bedroom window.

But the cameras are capable of tracking vehicle speed and speeding trends over time, said councillor and police board chair Lloyd Ferguson — and that could help police “focus enforcement where and when it’s needed.”

City council formally asked the province to allow photo radar on the Red Hill and Linc late last year after a consultant suggested a troubling spike in parkway collisions was due in part to chronic speeding. Toronto has made a similar request to use the contentious technology to save on policing costs. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Meanwhile, Hamilton Councillors voted to hike the cost of a monthly city parking lot pass by $10 this year, but put off any debate on meter rates until next year.

Temporary exemptions are also in the works for municipal lots in Dundas and on Concession Street, with the possibility of adding Ottawa Street and Kenilworth Avenue at a budget meeting Friday.

In theory, the rate bump should provide the city with an extra $238,000 in revenue — although senior director of bylaw and parking Marty Hazell noted the city will pay about $61,000 of that total for its own employees to park.

Downtown Coun. Jason Farr applauded the lot rate hike as a good first step, but added he’s still interested in a “robust discussion” on the city’s $1 meter rates.

“It’s the cheapest deal in Ontario,” he said. “I think we need to address that if we’re truly trying to encourage more people to get out of their cars and onto the bus.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)