The Roblin Review

Dear Editor:

The Manitoba NDP’s wasteful mismanagement has long threatened essential front-line services. The services cut under the NDP have now extended to Manitoba Hydro, which has closed 12 rural district offices to save an estimated $1 million.

The office closures, however, have come while Hydro’s senior executive salaries increased by $1.4 million between 2012 and 2014. And the executives’ raises of 20 to 30 per cent were revealed after the utility’s 3.95 per cent rate hike took effect in August.

This is the NDP’s style of management, which forces Manitobans to pay more and get less. Manitobans have so far experienced eight hydro rate increases totaling more than 25 per cent since Greg Selinger became premier. Under the NDP’s plan, Manitoba Hydro’s rates will more than double over the next two decades as a way to help cover the cost of the wasteful western route of the $4.6-billion BiPole III transmission line.

The waste and cuts to services will continue, as another 12 rural Hydro offices are slated for closure in 2017. Manitoba Hydro’s CEO promised these rural closures would “allow us to be more efficient, providing more consistent service at a reduced cost and ultimately passing those savings on to customers.” But Hydro customers will get no such promised savings, as the corporation’s NDP-appointed board continues to rubber-stamp pay hikes for its executives.

Hydro customers are tired of the NDP’s broken promises and want a change for the better. With the help of Manitobans, a change for the better is coming.