What's Behind the Ontario Energy Board Snub? | #onpoli

Late last year, Energy Minister Todd Smith said he'd introduce legislation to reverse a decision made by the Ontario Energy Board. The decision would have put the cost of hooking up new homes to the gas grid onto developers, which, the minister said, would delay shovels getting into the ground. Steve and John Michael discuss the impact of this decision. Online investigative magazine The Narwhal is reporting that the Government of Ontario is planning to expand its powers to expropriate land. Taking land is one way the government can use its powers to help infrastructure projects get done, but the normal process can take months and requires public consultations. Why is the government so keen to speed things up? Premier Doug Ford said Ontario will soon see one of the biggest projects in the world coming to the province. It was a mysterious announcement that has Steve Paikin and John Michael McGrath wondering what it could possibly be. 00:00 - Intro 06:32 - Ontario Energy Board 11:52 - Get It Done Act 19:23 - Big Infrastructure Project 24:48 - Outro And a note to listeners, audio episodes of the podcast will be dropping on Fridays rather than Tuesdays starting February 16th. #onpoli is very excited to be introducing a video component to our show, but you'll still get the same high-quality audio in your feed every week. You can also see the podcast on the TVO Today YouTube channel and every Friday night at 8 and 11 pm ET as the first half of The Agenda.