Ontario’s Gas-Plant Scandal – Never Mind A Public Inquiry. Let’s Leave It To The Voters To Bury The Governing Party In The Next Provincial Election

A Commentary by Doug Draper

The mess the now-finally-gone Dalton McGuinty – one I always thought was among the worst stinkos of a premier Ontario has ever had, and one who never gave a real fig about anything other than keeping himself elected and prepped up for those corporate boardroom jobs upon retirement – may now destroy any possibility his predecessor Liberal premier predecessor Kathleen Wynne has of surviving  long enough to chart a path of her own.

This guy still stands to destroy the Ontario Liberal’s chance to save itself, as a government.

And that is too bad, because Kathleen Wynne, in her own right, seems, or at least seemed, so different from the stinking pile of manure that was Dalton McGuinty. As someone I interviewed on a few occasions, and as someone I quite liked (or may have been sucked in to believing) was one of those few politicians who had an open and honest edge to her, it is sorry to see her going down so rapidly on the McGuinty baggage.

But then, why did Wynne allow herself to be seen on stage, late this January when she won the leadership of her party, praising McGuinty and promising she would build on his legacy. She should have thanked McGuinty for his service and said goodbye.

Now it looks like ‘building on Dalton McGuinty’s legacy’ is going to kill her, and may kill her party in a provincial election which may come sooner than she hoped. 

The gas-plant scandal, which is only all about the governing Ontario Libers gutting plans for gas-fired power plants in ridings they held before the last provincial election that were so unpopular, they decided to cancel those plans at a cost of hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to get their members re-elected, might kill Wynne’s fledgling government.

And maybe it should, given how much this decision, that most have been known by McGuinty cabinet ministers at the time, including Wynne and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley, might cost us. 

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath is demanding an independent, public inquriry into this, which we should all hope won’t happen. Public inquiries in Ontario have historically turned out to be feeding frenzies for lawyers and consultants, with little in the way of meaningful reform for the public.

The opposition Conservative party of Tim Hudak simply wants to pull the plug on the Liberals and move to an election. 

An election in Ontario will come soon enough. That is when the people will finally have their say on the nonsense we have been putting up under McGuinty and company government, through prorogation, etc., for too damn long now. 

It is too bad for Kathleen Wynne, but she served under what I suspect many of us feel was an arrogant creep, and she will quite likely pay the price for serving in an all-so-party-loyalty cabinet under him.

She chose to celebrate his legacy, and now she has to live with it. That is the way it goes.

What follows are the latest shots from the NDP and Conservatives on this Gas-Plant Mess.

 Gas Plant inquiry needed to provide answers and restore trust: Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

 Queen’s Park – New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath says an independent public inquiry is the best way to ensure that all facts around the gas plant cancellations are made public.

 “When people don’t believe their government can provide straight answers or honest information we have a serious problem – and that’s bad for democracy,” said Horwath. “The Liberal government has a credibility problem and it’s time for an independent and arm’s length look at this mess that will get people the answers they deserve.”

Following months of assurances that all documents had been provided for public scrutiny, new emails were released yesterday – including some that appear to suggest that crucial announcements were delayed so the premier could avoid media questions. [Email Monday, November 14, 2011 between Cabinet Office and the Ontario Power Authority].

While the government is once again claiming all documents have been released, few documents from the Premier’s office have emerged despite repeated requests. In late December, in response to a Freedom of Information request, the Premier’s office denied the existence of records – including ones that had already been released by other organizations.

Horwath noted that Ontario Power Authority officials say they made the Deputy Minister of Energy aware that there could be more documents as early as November 2012 – but the government refused to disclose that information.

 “We need to remember: these documents and this information belong to the people of Ontario, not the politicians who hold office. The government is spending their money. They deserve answers,” said Horwath.

Now here is one of the latest from Tim Hudak and the Ontario Conservative Party,

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 22, 2013

 THAT’S WYNNE’S STORY AND SHE’S STICKING TO IT

QUEEN’S PARK – The latest document dump by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) demonstrates that that there has been an immense amount of political interference by the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals, PC House Leader Jim Wilson said today.

“Yesterday, OPA CEO Colin Andersen and OPA Chair Jim Hinds confirmed our suspicions that the government has known since November that there were documents missing from those tabled on September 24^th and October 12^th, 2012,” said Wilson. “It is deplorable that the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals have been attempting to skirt accountability by withholding documents from Ontarians about the $1 billion wasted to save five Liberal seats in the 2011 election.

 Wilson made the comments while citing that on January 30^th, 2013, a leaked memo from the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) was sent to the Ontario PC Caucus. In that memo, OPA staff informed Andersen that they were instructed by Jesse Kulendran – a former Liberal political staffer – to withhold certain documents and redact others.

 “Mr. Andersen and Mr. Hinds’ refusal to confirm that there was no political interference – along with this leaked memo – is an indictment on the government’s attempt to cover up their decision to cancel the Mississauga and Oakville gas plants,” continued Wilson.

“To make matters worse, there are still documents missing. We still do not have any correspondence between OPA officials and staff in the Premier’s office, we only have limited documents about “Project Vapour”, “Apple”, “Fruit Salad” and “Banana”, and we still have yet to see any emails or correspondence from the Premier or Minister of Energy.”

 Wilson concluded, “If the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals actually wanted to get to the bottom of this scandal, they would come clean with Ontarians and table all remaining documents.

 Taxpayers deserve to know who ordered the cancellations, and most importantly, who is now trying to cover them up? 

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