TORONTO, ON: Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) reveal that the electricity bills for Collingwood General and Marine Hospital have faced a steep increase over the last five years.

The documents show bills that are steadily increasing, growing from $434,705.78 in 2012/13 to $599,745.85 in 2016/17, an increase of 38 per cent.

“How is Collingwood Hospital expected to manage their budget when electricity bills are rising by hundreds of thousands of dollars? The more the hospital has to spend keeping their lights on, the fewer resources they have for patients,” said CTF Ontario Director, Christine Van Geyn.

Ontario has seen dramatic increases to the cost of electricity, with bills for residential consumers more than doubling in the last decade.

“Families across the province all feel the pain of rapid increases to the cost of electricity when they pay their home electricity bill. But what many people don’t think about is the cost of the Ontario government’s failed electricity policy to the institutions we all rely on, like Collingwood G&M Hospital,” continued Van Geyn. “Instead of paying $165,040 for inflated electricity bills, Collingwood Hospital could have paid for 16 lung biopsies. That’s something that Ontario patients expect their health care system to spend money on, rather than wasting money on this government’s hydro rip-off.”

The documents detailing Collingwood G&M Hospital’s electricity bills can be found HERE.