Karen Stintz proposes selling part of Toronto Hydro to fund relief line

TORONTO – Mayoral candidate Karen Stintz wants to sell a chunk of Toronto Hydro in order to help fund the Toronto Relief Line.

The campaign proposal was announced at the corner of Carlaw Avenue and Gerrard Street on Monday, the spot where a planned subway stop would be.

“Toronto has been talking about the Relief Line since 1985, and in the nearly 30 years since it was first proposed, City Councils have debated it, but it didn’t get done,” Stintz said.

The City of Toronto currently owns 100 per cent of Toronto Hydro Corporation which has been valued at $1.14 billion in 2012.

But selling more than a 10 per cent stake would cost the municipality millions in transfer tax penalities to the province, a situation Stintz promises to discuss with officials at Queen’s Park if she is elected mayor.

“We can sell up to 10 per cent. If well sell 51, then we have to work with the province on that tax implication,” she said. “I’m confident we will get the change because the province understand how important it is to invest in this line.”

Stintz cited examples from past energy sales such as in 2001 when Mississauga sold 10 per cent of Enersource to the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and in 2008 when Toronto sold a subsidiary of Toronto Hydro called Toronto Hydro Telecom to Cogeco for $200 million.

The former Toronto Transit Commission chair said she is confident the city can get close to $500 million from the sale of Toronto Hydro for the relief line.