Manitoba government runs ads on electricity rate freeze that has not been approved

The Manitoba government is running an advertising campaign to tout a freeze on electricity rates even though the freeze has yet to be approved.

The ads say the freeze started Jan. 1 and helps lower costs for Manitobans.

Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro plans to request a one-year rate freeze on electricity this year but has not yet filed a request with the Public Utilities Board, the provincial regulator that can deny proposals.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Finance Minister Adrien Sala says Manitoba Hydro has made the promised rate freeze achievable, and the government also helped by eliminating debt-reduction targets for the Crown corporation.

Christopher Adams, a political analyst at the University of Manitoba, says governments are often quick to promote good news, but the ad campaign is a mistake and should not have been launched before the freeze was approved.

1:22 Manitoba PCs take shots at province for delaying Hydro rate freeze