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Transcript

VOCM News Afternoon Update October 23rd · VOCM On Demand

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Local News Now, a VOCM News Update.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: I'm Richard Duggan. In the news, the 15% discount on
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: electricity rates announced yesterday will be applied for the winter
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: season with more affordability measures expected once the Churchill Falls
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Agreement is finalized. Premier Tony Wakeham announced what government is
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  Speaker 2: calling the first phase in a range of affordability measures yesterday,
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  Speaker 2: starting with his previous commitment to a 15% discount on
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: electricity rates starting in January. Wakeham says that break on
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  Speaker 2: costs will remain in place for the winter heating season.
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  Speaker 3: What we're doing is we're applying this now until the
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  Speaker 3: end of the winter season, and then we'll come back
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  Speaker 3: with additional measures and look at where we go. As
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  Speaker 3: we said, we're confident in our deal, our new and
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  Speaker 3: better deal with hydro, and we're looking forward to that.
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  Speaker 2: In the meantime, the home heating subsidy for those who
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: heat with oil will be doubled from $ 500 to $ 1, 000.
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  Speaker 2: Those eligible for the subsidy won't have to reapply. NDP
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  Speaker 2: leader Jim Dinh says people are struggling, and he would
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: have preferred to see the elimination of the HST on
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  Speaker 2: all forms of home heat. Dinh says a constituent who
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  Speaker 2: gets a small pension and who is having a very
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  Speaker 2: hard time keeping up with rising costs reached out to
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  Speaker 2: him last week.
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  Speaker 1: What for his home heating I think would have been roughly,
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  Speaker 1: and that's just being very frugal about it, would have
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  Speaker 1: amounted to about $ 7, 200 at the very minimum a year.
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  Speaker 1: So for him, if he had gotten a 15% rebate,
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  Speaker 1: if they just took 15% of all that, he would
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  Speaker 1: have ended up better off. At least it would have
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  Speaker 1: adjusted to the amount that he burned in his home
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  Speaker 1: to keep him warm, as opposed to a cap really
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  Speaker 1: of $ 1, 000.
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  Speaker 2: Premier Tony Wakeham says they're looking at a range of
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  Speaker 2: affordability measures and wanted to roll something out before the
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  Speaker 2: heating season began.
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  Speaker 3: Well, there's been lots of discussion about different levers and
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  Speaker 3: how we put them, but we wanted to get something
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  Speaker 3: out that was a program that already existed, and right
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  Speaker 3: now it was an opportunity for us to double that
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  Speaker 3: particular program.
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  Speaker 2: The fall fiscal update is coming late next month. Finance
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  Speaker 2: Minister Craig Pardee will deliver the province's fiscal snapshot in
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  Speaker 2: the final week of the fall sitting of the House
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  Speaker 2: of Assembly. He says government is looking at an 80-20
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  Speaker 2: split on excess revenue generated by rising oil prices. The province,
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  Speaker 2: which set the budgetary benchmark for oil prices at $ 79 U.S.
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  Speaker 2: a barrel, benefits to the tune of $ 33 million for
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  Speaker 2: every dollar above that figure. Oil prices have been consistently
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  Speaker 2: much higher than that since last spring's budget, and right
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  Speaker 2: now the surplus is in the $ 500 million range. Party
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  Speaker 2: had previously indicated that government intends to spend 80 percent
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  Speaker 2: of any oil windfall on debt repayment and the remaining
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  Speaker 2: 20 percent on affordability measures.
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  Speaker 4: We're looking at November, Monday to November 23rd, 24th in
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  Speaker 4: that range, but certainly in that week, the last sitting
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  Speaker 4: of the House of Assembly, that will give us the
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  Speaker 4: most up-to-date numbers that we'll know that we can broadcast
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  Speaker 4: at that time as to where the 80 and the
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  Speaker 4: 20 would be. And remember, the fall fiscal update will
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  Speaker 4: then also quantify and qualify the 80% as well that
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  Speaker 4: we've discussed.
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  Speaker 2: That's your news. I'm Richard Duggan.