Hydro One referendum the right thing to do: Horwath

While acknowledging her call for a referendum on the partial privatization of Hydro One has little chance of success, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said it's important her party do what it can to try and stop the sale.

"We are trying to do everything we can to respond to Ontarians," Horwath said Tuesday, in a phone interview from Queen's Park.

"I've been travelling this province for a couple of weeks now, and everywhere I go, people are up in arms about the sell off of Hydro One. At virtually every town hall meeting ... people are recommending a referendum."

Premier Kathleen Wynne's governing Liberals plan to sell 60 per cent of Hydro One shares, in part, to raise about $4 billion to help fund its 10-year, $130 billion infrastructure plan.

The government says its structuring the sale so it will retain controlling interest and that the money it will raise will be used for the badly-needed infrastructure work.

But Horwath says the short-term gain will soon give away to permanent pain.

"Hydro One brings in hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, literally, every year,” she said. “And that helps pay for health care and education and infrastructure and all kinds of different projects."

Ideally, Horwath would like the premier to delay the privatization until 2018 and to hold it with the next municipal election. Failing that, she said it would be worth the expense to hold a standalone vote.

"If she intends on going ahead ... then she has to hold a referendum," Horwath said. "I believe (the cost of a referendum) would pale in comparison to the amount of revenue we're going to lose as a province when we sell off Hydro One.

"We know for sure that the vast majority of Ontarians don't want to see this happen. And Kathleen Wynne doesn't have a mandate to do this. She wasn't honest with the people of Ontario during the election campaign."

In addition to calls for a referendum, the NDP has held town halls on the issue, and has set up a website – youpaytheprice.ca – where residents can register their thoughts on the Hydro One sale.