Ontario offers tax break on Energy Star products
Starting July 19, anyone who buys Energy Star light bulbs and appliances won't be charged provincial sales tax at the till.
The deal, announced Wednesday by Premier Dalton McGuinty, will last for one year.
But the opposition said this is just a flip-flop designed to get the Liberals re-elected Oct. 10.
Conservative Tim Hudak said the Liberals cancelled a similar tax credit program in 2004 that also refunded the PST to customers who bought Energy Star products.
He said the Liberals have resurrected the tax break just in time for the fall election.
"This is conversion on the road to electoral defeat," Hudak said. But McGuinty said the Liberal refund is different and more convenient because people don't have to wade through applications – they are exempted from paying PST right at the cash register.
"We've brought back a plan today which is a much stronger incentive," McGuinty said, adding the previous Conservative tax credit only had a "modest impact."
"We've gone beyond that."
The announcement is part of the Liberals' climate-change plan being rolled out as the summer election campaign gets underway.
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ATCO Electric agrees to $31 million penalty following regulator's investigation
CALGARY - Regulated Alberta utility ATCO Electric has agreed to pay a $31 million administrative penalty after an Alberta Utilities Commission investigation found it deliberately overpaid a First Nation group for work on a new transmission line, and then failed to disclose the reasons for it when it applied to be reimbursed by ratepayers for the extra cost.
An agreed statement of facts contained in a settlement agreement between ATCO Electric Ltd. and the commission's enforcement staff says the company sole-sourced a contract in 2018 for work that was necessary for an electric transmission line to Jasper, Alta.
The company that won…
