Just 10 days after her colleagues shot down Gina Barber’s suggestion that London Hydro’s new shareholder agreement should contain a ‘no sale’ clause, claiming no sale offer had been received or was expected, Chatham-Kent Energy sent the mayor of London a six-page letter offering to buy London Hydro for $245 million.

If you believe that was just a coincidence you probably also believe in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus.

(What!!! You mean Santa Claus isn’t real?)

We’re with Controller Barber in believing utility companies provide an essential public service and should, therefore, be publicly owned. In that way the benefits of efficient operation remain with the consumers, not the shareholders in some distant city or country.

The Ontario government appears to be slowly backing its way out of the public utility business. It has mandated that the number of city utilities be reduced and it’s using financial incentives as the hammer. Sir Adam Beck, the Londoner who founded Ontario Hydro, must be turning in his grave.

London Hydro, which only transmits power, isn’t sure whether it sees itself as a player or a pawn in the power game now afoot. Hence the new shareholder agreement – the city of London is the only shareholder – to make any new arrangements easier to accomplish.

It didn’t want the ‘no sale’ clause; neither did most of council after they were assured nothing had been received or was in the pipeline.

Had there been a hint of this – and surely someone knew it was coming – the council debate might have been more philosophical. We surely need one now. Do we really want to see our hydro company begin the slide into equity ownership? That’s what would happen with a sale to CK Energy, whose partner is Corix Group, a Canadian-based private utility infrastructure company.

It’s time now for a real debate on that question. Apparently it was time two weeks ago, too.