Ever since causing David Frum to retract an entire column in the National Post, I have avoided writing about Ontario Minister of Infrastructure and Energy George Smitherman's Green Energy Act.
A prominent Conservative's blog post on the subject today made it too irresistible, however, to jump back into the fray.
So what's Mr. Janke's argument?
"Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has dealt a body-blow to home sales in Ontario. By promising to impose energy audits on home sales, Dalton McGuinty has made selling a home a far less attractive proposition."
Let's review:
*** The net-cost of a home audit (after government refund) is roughly $150.
*** Having just bought a home in Toronto, the closing costs (lawyer, home inspection, land-transfer tax, etc.) were around $5,000. So yes, this bill will increase by roughly 3 per cent next time around. Of course that's just the closing cost. $150 on the average home in Canada is less than 0.05 per cent.
But Janke's argument is more than just the cost. He goes on to argue that the audit is redundant, useless, a waste of time. "If I have a year's worth of utility bills, I already have an idea of how efficient the house is." Um, no you don't. You know how much electricity the home used but you have no idea if that's because the home had eight TVs and the microwave going 24-hours a day (some people really like popcorn) or if the home is energy inefficient.
He continues: "What is the audit going to do other than give me some inspector's opinion?" Janke's argument is basically that home audits are a total, complete waste of money. In his words "I paid $300 for someone to tell me the obvious?"
Who needs a home audit. They only state the obvious. Look at the sticker on the old furnace and you know if you need to replace it or not. Only a crypto-socialist like Dalton McGuinty would push these highly suspect reviews as part of a government program.
Um, Dalton McGuinty and Stephen Harper.
You see, the Harper government, has something they call the ecoENERGY program. John Baird, I believe it was, was very proud when he rolled it out.
It gives out grants to homeowners to upgrade their furnaces, their windows and other energy inefficient parts of homes.
So what do you need to do before you qualify for any grants?
You need your home evaluated by an "energy advisor." It's right on the website.
An "energy advisor" report is code-word for a home audit.
For some reason they don't just look at 12 months of utility bills or take Janke's word for it (the way he would, apparently, before buying a home).
I could continue but his argument (that somehow old people will never sell another home in Ontario ever again) gets sillier from there.
