SUDBURY—NDP leader Andrea Horwath says her party’s hydro plan will reduce families’ electricity bills and the NDP is the only choice to get Hydro One back in public hands.

Howarth outlined the plan Saturday morning outside the home of a young family who say they struggle with their electricity bills — in particular over the extra laundry they now have after the birth of their twin boys.

An NDP government would end time-of-use pricing, which charges higher rates during peak times and lower rates after hours, “so that people aren’t punished for cooking dinner at dinner time,” Horwath said at a later campaign stop in Orillia, “so people can live normal lives and still afford their hydro bill.”

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The pricing scheme was supposed to reduce prices and help smooth out demand for electricity, but has failed, she said.

In order to lower hydro bills, Horwath said an NDP government would buy back shares of Hydro One sold off under the Wynne government, which she said has led to higher prices and exorbitant salaries among executives.

The NDP plan would also make sure rural families do not pay more in delivery fees than city dwellers, and curb the oversupply of energy to bring prices down. The NDP pledges to trim bills by 30 per cent.

Critics have said the NDP plan is too costly and will take a long time to implement.

“The NDP’s plan to buy back Hydro One and continue moving forward with a carbon tax will cost taxpayers billions,” said Melissa Lantsman, a spokesperson for PC Leader Doug Ford.

“Only Doug Ford has a plan to reduce hydro rates and put money back in people’s pockets. We’ll reduce your hydro bill by 12 per cent.”

Ford has also said he will fire Hydro One CEO Mayo Schmidt, dubbing him the $6-million-dollar man.

The Liberal government sold off a chunk of public shares of the utility to raise $9 billion but has been hammered during question period by opposition parties asking about families forced to “heat or eat.”

The Liberals banned utilities from cutting off customers in the winter months over unpaid bills, and also introduced a scheme to lower rates by 25 per cent — a controversial deal that will cost taxpayers $21 billion in the long run.

If elected premier, Horwath also said she would look at recent news that Hydro One plans to acquire U.S. utility Avista.

“We’d be very responsible in terms of how we go forward,” she said, doing “our best to make sure that any deals the Liberals have allowed the private company to make that aren’t in the public interest, get dealt with.”

To buy back the shares would cost about $6.4 billion, and could take two decades, critics have said.

Horwath also criticized Ford’s language on immigration during Friday’s leadership debate in Parry Sound.

Responding to a question regarding a pilot project that would bring new immigrants to Northern communities, Ford told the audience of municipal officials that he preferred “taking care of our own” first.

“I was a little bit shocked,” Howarth said at the Saturday-morning campaign stop. “I’ve heard that language used by people who are suggesting that newcomers are not welcome in our province or in our country and that’s not an opinion I share.”

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Northern municipal leaders are looking to immigration to help boost their populations and economies, she said, so “while the municipal leaders were basically saying, ‘let’s find the way to roll out the red carpet and welcome newcomers in,’ Mr. Ford’s comments seemed to be completely opposite of what they were asking for.

“It was a worrisome comment not only for me, but also for those municipal leaders who saw a leader in this election who is completely out of touch with what it is that they want,” she said.

Shortly after the debate, the PCs issued a statement saying the Liberals “gravely misconstrued” what Ford said.

“Doug Ford is completely supportive of new Canadians and immigration policies that welcome immigrants ... he is open to a Northern Ontario immigration program but believes the people of the North have felt left behind for so many years.”

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