From Queen’s Park by Sylvia Jones MPP — Gas plant hearings need to continue

December 24, 2014 · 0 Comments

Yet more revelations have surfaced concerning the Liberal government’s secrecy surrounding the cancellation of the two gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga.
Through an OPP application to obtain a search warrant, it was revealed that IT consultant Peter Faist, who was dating Dalton McGuinty’s deputy chief of staff at the time Laura Miller, was allegedly paid $10,000 by the Liberal Caucus Service Bureau to delete 632,118 files from 20 government computers. It is alleged that files relating to the cancellation of the Mississauga and Oakville gas plants may have been included in those deleted.
Because it came from the Liberal Caucus Service Bureau, and not the Liberal Party, the money paid to Peter Faist was taxpayers’ money. This is important to note, because the Liberal Caucus Service Bureau is funded by taxpayers and is a separate entity from the Ontario Liberal Party. The Liberals have since announced that they will repay the $10,000 plus HST.
The fact that the Liberals have now agreed to repay the $10,000 plus HST Peter Faist was paid with taxpayers’ money shows that the initial act of paying him to wipe computers in the Premier’s office was questionable at best.
One thing is for certain however, this revelation absolutely stresses the need to have more public hearings into the gas plant scandal. The Progressive Conservative Party has been calling for the public hearings to continue, however Premier Kathleen Wynne has so far refused; insisting that the committee conclude its investigation. What’s remarkable given the recent developments is that Laura Miller and Peter Feist have yet to ever appear before the committee. Surely these two key witnesses must appear before the committee if it is to be allowed to write a complete report on the entire incident.
We need to shed more light into what happened during this period when very important information was deleted from Government computers. The decision to cancel the Mississauga and Oakville gas plants has been estimated to cost this province $1.1 billion. Answers are needed and they are needed now. Ontarians deserve the truth.