Dave Van Kesteren

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and his mentor, Kathleen Wynne, are driving greenhouse operations out of business in my riding with the green energy policies. One greenhouse grower said that his natural gas costs will double from $120,000 a year to $240,000 a year because of carbon tax. Why are these small businesses being penalized by the Prime Minister and the Wynne Liberals, and being forced to shut down or move to the U.S.?

Mr. Speaker, in my region in southwestern Ontario, greenhouse growers use large amounts of electricity. As hydro rates continue to soar, businesses are leaving Canada, killing jobs across the country. The latest, Mucci Farms in Kingsville, is paying three times more for hydro in Ontario than across the border. Guess what. They are expanding, not in Canada but in the U.S. How can the Liberals justify imposing a carbon tax on job creators, when our sky-high hydro rates are already driving them out of the country?

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Chatham—Kent—Leamington, greenhouse growers met Sunday to discuss their survival under the new Ontario cap and trade program. One owner said his electrical bill rose from $19,000 in December to over $40,000 in January. This new tax is forcing small family businesses to either shut down or leave town. Greenhouse growers are now talking about moving their operations to the United States. How can the Prime Minister justify imposing a carbon tax, and follow down the same disastrous path of his mentor, Kathleen Wynne?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and his mentor, Kathleen Wynne, are driving greenhouse operations out of business in my riding with the green energy policies. One greenhouse grower said that his natural gas costs will double from $120,000 a year to $240,000 a year because of carbon tax. Why are these small businesses being penalized by the Prime Minister and the Wynne Liberals, and being forced to shut down or move to the U.S.?

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Chatham—Kent—Leamington, greenhouse growers met Sunday to discuss their survival under the new Ontario cap and trade program. One owner said his electrical bill rose from $19,000 in December to over $40,000 in January. This new tax is forcing small family businesses to either shut down or leave town. Greenhouse growers are now talking about moving their operations to the United States. How can the Prime Minister justify imposing a carbon tax, and follow down the same disastrous path of his mentor, Kathleen Wynne?

Mr. Speaker, in my region in southwestern Ontario, greenhouse growers use large amounts of electricity. As hydro rates continue to soar, businesses are leaving Canada, killing jobs across the country. The latest, Mucci Farms in Kingsville, is paying three times more for hydro in Ontario than across the border. Guess what. They are expanding, not in Canada but in the U.S. How can the Liberals justify imposing a carbon tax on job creators, when our sky-high hydro rates are already driving them out of the country?