

Joshua Freeman, CP24.com





Just more than half of Ontarians approve of a Liberal plan to remove the provincial proportion of the HST from hydro bills, a new poll finds.

The Forum Research poll asked 1,154 randomly selected voters whether they approve of the plan, despite a $1 billion per year cost to implement it.

The move was announced by Premier Kathleen Wynne earlier this week and is expected to save the average Ontario household about $130 per year. Rural hydro customers are expected to see even further savings of around $540 per year.

The move was announced as part of a ‘reset’ for Wynne’s government mid-way through her term and follows a byelection loss to the Progressive Conservatives in Scarborough-Rouge River.

“The idea is especially popular among the oldest (62%), mid income groups ($40K to $60K - 65%), in eastern (60%) and northern Ontario (62%), and relatively equally between PC voters (55%), Liberals (60%) and New Democrats (62%),” the pollster said in a news release. “Groups which disapprove of this promise include the wealthiest (38%), in the city of Toronto (34%) and the best educated (36%).”

The Ontario NDP had been calling for the move for several years.

Wynne has said the government can afford to forego the revenue from tax on hydro bills because the province is in a better economic position now than it was a few years ago.

The poll was conducted September 13 and 14. It is considered accurate to within plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.