Mayor Miller Will Be Supporting McGuinty's Move

And he will understand McGuinty's bailing out the forestry industry but his reluctance to bail out the financially strapped City of Toronto.....after all Miller rationalized spending $100 million more for subway cars because it would provide jobs to our brothers and sisters in Fort William.

McGuinty expected to offer aid to forestry sector

CTV.ca News Staff

The Ontario government is reportedly getting ready to help the struggling forestry sector with a multi-million-dollar infusion of cash, but critics say it will be too little, too late.

Premier Dalton McGuinty will travel to Northern Ontario on Monday to deliver help to pulp and paper mills hit hard by high energy prices, a source told The Canadian Press.

The government is expected to offer "multi-year financial assistance worth millions," according to the source.

McGuinty and Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay will unveil the aid package in Thunder Bay. A recent Globe and Mail report says the deal will include a 14 per cent electricity savings.

But companies, unions and municipal leaders have been calling for even bigger savings, saying electricity prices are the single most crippling factor for the industry. Electricity makes up about one-third of operating costs for pulp and paper mills.

The concerned groups want a special industrial rate of $45 per megawatt-hour, which is well below the current market price of about $70.

Critics say anything other than the $45 price will not be enough. NDP Leader Howard Hampton said not meeting that target price will only be a "pre-election quick fix."

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