By Both the Liberals and New Democrats have called for a general election to be called over the issue.
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The government will appeal a court ruling last week that halted the planned sale of Hydro One, Premier Ernie Eves, has announced.
And in the meantime, just to make sure there are no further hold-ups, it will pass legislation allowing the sale, Eves said.
"It's important to send a signal that we are proceeding with the restructuring of the electricity sector," Eves said after a cabinet and caucus meeting.
"It's important that Hydro One be privatized."
Energy Minister Chris Stockwell was handed the job of travelling the province to sell the idea to the public. The sale will be the largest privatization of a publicly owned asset in Canadian history.
The planned legislation is expected to be rushed through during this spring's legislative session. A Legislature committee could hold public hearings on the legislation.
"If there are some suggestions and improvements ... we will consider them, however, we also believe it important to proceed with the Hydro One initiative," Eves said.
The government plans the sale of shares in the fall.
Two unions stopped the sale of the electricity grid last week when Ontario Superior Court Judge Arthur Gans ruled the government didn't have the legal authority to proceed with it.
Even though the government will be rewriting the legislation, Eves said it's important to appeal the court ruling to clarify the rights of the provincial government.
Both Eves and Stockwell argued that the old Ontario Hydro had racked up $38 billion in debt and had become a fiscal albatross.
They said privatization of Hydro One is in "the best interests" of taxpayers. Hydro One is one of three major companies created when the Ontario government broke up the former Ontario Hydro in the late 1990s.
Eves called Stockwell's planned tour a "meaningful consultation" he hopes will clear up the confusion in the public's mind surrounding the privatization of Hydro One and the opening up of the electricity generating market to competition on May 1.
Eves said the two are separate issues and admitted the government has done a poor job of explaining the changes in the electricity market to the public. The plan to sell Hydro One was announced with little fanfare by then-Premier Mike Harris in mid-December.
The deregulated sale of power to consumers, which has been in the works for years, will proceed as planned on May 1.
Opposition politicians accused the Tory government of only going through the motions of seeking public input and said if it were not for the unions' court challenge, the sale would have gone ahead without a word from the public.
NDP Leader Howard Hampton accused the Tories of planning a taxpayer-funded propaganda campaign to sell the idea.
"As for their consultation process, this is nothing but a sales job, this isn't going to be an honest question and answer (session) with the people of Ontario, it's going to be this government doing another propaganda campaign," Hampton said.
"Ernie Eves says he is going to consult with Main Street, but he is listening to Bay Street," Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty said.
Eves defended the move, saying the private sector is best positioned to spend the money needed to improve the expansive electricity grid in Ontario.
"I don't think we can continue to go down the road that we've been going with respect to building up debt and not operating efficiently," he said.
"We believe it is important to the future of the province of Ontario that they have a supply of energy ... at a reasonable cost and we believe that should be the primary concern."
Attorney-General David Young said the government will appeal the court ruling because it is concerned the decision will set a precedent so that unions and other government critics can take them to court on any of their policies without proving they are directly affected.
In this case it was the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union that brought the issue before the courts and ultimately halted the planned share offering this spring.
CUPE president Judy Darcy said the government's plan to appeal the ruling is both arrogant and wrong. She said case law is clear that unions have a role to play beyond negotiating contracts.
She accused the government of trying to silence its critics using taxpayer dollars for both the appeal and the consultation exercise.
"It seems to me they don't like the fact they are being challenged," Darcy said of her union's involvement in the court case.
"The judge was very clear in his ruling," she said, adding Gans referred to a Supreme Court of Canada precedent that allows unions and other third parties to challenge governments.
André Foucault, secretary-treasurer of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, said Eves' plan to sell Hydro One regardless of what is said in public consultations is a sham.
"This government is ambivalent, it doesn't have any direction and it's not prepared to accept and deal with the facts as they stand before them," Foucault said.
The court challenge to date has cost the unions almost $180,000 in legal fees and research costs. Stockwell said he plans to explain the Tories' plans to the public and "alleviate their concerns."
He said provincial governments have been talking for decades about making the hydro system work better, but have failed -- so now it's the private sectors' turn.
"We believe ... they will be run it more efficiently and that with regulatory bodies put in place to monitor it, they will provide a better and more efficient service to the people of Ontario," he said.
But when asked to outline the benefits of privatizing Hydro One, Stockwell was at a loss for answers.
McGuinty said Stockwell's public consultations are "a farce."
He said Eves' insistence that Hydro One will be sold regardless of what his government hears in public consultations makes a mockery of the entire process.
