Pallister Failed to Follow through with Promises and that has Cost Manitoba Citizens Money

It was upsetting when the Chair of Manitoba’s Hydro board of directors, Sanford Riley, announced 900 employees were being let go. At the same time, he talked about several double-digit rate increases that would take place at annual intervals. The only reprieve would be if the government got bailed out somehow.

Brian Pallister with Trudeau

Many people weren’t surprised by this announcement at all. They were critical for some time with Hydro and the expansion it took on. They knew it was too late to save these jobs or prevent the rate increases. Premier Pallister talked before the election about stopping this and holding a public review of the $25 billion plan. Followers were elated, they wanted to see the control the government had over Hydro ended.

He didn’t keep that promise at all! Instead, his board was studying things but the expansion was allowed to continue at the same time. Experts were bringing up questions and concerns about the expansion plans. Media outlets picked up these points and they talked about market research. The evidence was shared about risks and concerns.

Did Pallister use this as a ploy to help him win the election? Did he trick the citizens into thinking he would save them money? He won the election but made no effort to do much else. The new board he brought in was spending close to $10 million a day. They didn’t come up with any new information that wasn’t already known. The new board was ill-equipped to see how deep of a hole had been dug for Hydro.

They allowed several projects to continue including:

  • Bipole III
  • Keeyask dam
  • Minnesota tie-line

This was a huge failure by the new board and by Premier Pallister, to say the least. The biggest lower in all of it though was the citizens of Manitoba. Billions of dollars were lost and now the increased rates are going to strive to make up that money out of taxpayer pockets. Many of these households are lower-income. They already struggle to make ends meet! This energy cost increase can push many more households into poverty.

It doesn’t matter where fingers are pointed or the blame lies. The mistakes are very expensive and they are going to have a huge negative impact on the economy of Manitoba. Many are asking for Pallister to step down from his elected position because they feel he lied to them to get votes.