From Queen’s Park by Sylvia Jones MPP — Gas plant report doesn’t end the discussion

February 26, 2015 · 0 Comments

The legislative committee looking into the decision to cancel the Mississauga and Oakville gas plants may be done, but that doesn’t mean the discussion is over.
The final report from the committee was recently released.
The government talks about being open and transparent, but it did the complete opposite when they abruptly ended the committee when the legislature resumed after last year’s provincial election. There are many questions still left to be answered, that require bringing forward key-witnesses, including David Livingston, Laura Miller and Peter Faist, who was paid $10,000 to delete computer hard drives in the Premier’s office. It’s unfortunate that the final report didn’t even mention Peter Faist.
In the few weeks since the final report was written, we’ve seen new information surface about the OPP investigation which opens up the possibility that key-witnesses may have lied to the committee. That is why my PC colleagues and I believe that we need to re-strike the committee and bring forward key-witnesses like Laura Miller, Peter Faist and David Livingston immediately.
Even with the release of the committee’s final report, both opposition parties consider it a waste, and have written dissenting reports. This shows that the government’s version of the report is nothing more than a waste of paper that tries to sweep the scandal under the rug. This government has a notorious history of shrugging their shoulders when it comes to scandals, just like they have done with the alleged attempt to bribe former Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier to not run as the Liberal candidate in the Sudbury by-election.
Those who played a part in the decision to cancel the two gas plants, as well as those who tried to hide the actual cost of the closure, must be held to account, and the first step to doing this is to re-strike the committee. The committee may be shut down, but my PC colleagues and I will continue to fight to find the truth in the decision to cancel the two gas plants, and finally get to the bottom of this scandal.