“The relocation of these two gas-fired power plants has nothing to do with meeting the province’s long-term energy needs and everything to do with local politics and saving Liberal seats…Moreover the bill for this mess won’t stop at $230 million.”

–Editorial, The Toronto Star, September 25, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 2, 2012

LEONE: COMMITTEE WILL INVESTIGATE LIBERAL GAS PLANT SCANDAL

QUEEN’S PARK – Today the Legislature voted in favour of re-striking the Finance Committee to investigate the Liberals’ scandalous decision to cancel two gas plants that have cost taxpayers at least $640 million. Today’s passage will empower the Committee, which the Liberals have been blocking, to decide the extent to which Energy Minister Chris Bentley should be held in contempt for withholding documents, Cambridge Ontario PC MPP Rob Leone said.

“With the motion passed, we’ll be able to start getting to the bottom of these outrageous and politically-motivated decisions by the Liberals to cancel the Oakville and Mississauga gas plants,” Leone said. “Taxpayers deserve to know the truth about why $640 million – and possibly hundreds of millions more – were wasted to save a few Liberals seats during the last general election.”

The Liberals’ ongoing refusal to release all documents in full on the gas plant cancellations resulted in the Legislature grinding to a halt last week as the House debated the motion of contempt. Yesterday, the Ontario PCs triggered a vote to end the debate, which put forward a motion to refer the matter to Committee for an in-depth investigation of the Minister’s actions, the extent of Liberal political interference, and the true cost of the gas plant fiasco.

The Committee will report back on its findings to the Legislature by November 19.

“The Liberals have yet to show even a flicker of recognition that their deliberate policy decisions and reckless overspending have put Ontario on track to tripling its debt to $411-billion by 2017,” Leone stated. “By referring the matter to Committee, we’ll ensure the Liberals are held accountable for their gross mismanagement of the province’s energy file and public funds.”

Leone noted that the wasted tax dollars could have gone towards important public services such as front-line healthcare and education – or even paying down the debt. And that figure doesn’t even account for the billions of tax dollars wasted on other Liberal scandals, including eHealth and Ornge.

“The committee process will ensure the Liberals answer to the public – to the hard-working taxpayers who already have to deal with skyrocketing energy prices as many struggle daily to pay their bills or to even find a job,” Leone concluded.

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For further information, contact Christine Bujold (416) 325-1330 christine.bujold@pc.ola.org

“Whatever the total, this is further evidence of massive, deliberate mismanagement of energy by the McGuinty government, which has made a habit of politically exploiting home hydro needs,  just as they do with health care and education.”

– Editorial, Windsor Star, September 26, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 1, 2012

LEONE: TIME TO INVESTIGATE LIBERAL DECISIONS TO CANCEL GAS PLANTS

QUEEN’S PARK – The Ontario PCs called for a vote today to end debate on the motion of contempt against Energy Minister Chris Bentley so that the Legislature can move forward and investigate the Liberals’ outrageous decisions to cancel two gas plants – decisions that have wasted at least $640 million of taxpayer money, Cambridge Ontario PC MPP Rob Leone said.

“To save a few seats and their political skins, the McGuinty Liberals cancelled gas plants in Mississauga and Oakville with complete disregard to taxpayers,” Leone said. “They treated public funds as if they belonged to the Liberal Party, and they must be held accountable.”

Ending the debates will allow for the Legislature to refer the matter to Committee, which will report on whether Energy Minister Chris Bentley should be held in contempt for refusing to release in full all documents relating to the cancelled gas plants, as requested by the Legislature’s Estimates Committee back in May. If passed, the motion will re-strike the Finance Committee, allowing an investigation into the gas plant cancellations and the Liberals’ political interference and subsequent cover-up to ensue.

Under constant pressure from Ontario PC Caucus, which filed the motion of contempt, the government finally released an incomplete package of documents on September 24. Many documents were missing or had sections blacked out or removed.

Leone reiterated how serious it is to be found in contempt of the House. If the Minister is found in contempt, he could face a wide range of punishment.
“The consequences for contempt are severe for a reason: they’re intended to protect taxpayers and not political hides,” Leone concluded. “It’s disappointing that extraordinary steps must be taken to keep the current government honest about their decisions, especially when the Liberals knew they were jeopardizing a Minister’s political and legal career.”

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For further information, contact Christine Bujold (416) 325-1330 christine.bujold@pc.ola.org

“The final cost of the Oakville contract breach, likely in the hundreds of millions, will be added to the $190-million the government paid to kill another partially built plant in Mississauga.”

– Parker Gallant, National Post, September 26, 2012

For Immediate Release
September 27, 2012

LEONE: LIBERALS WASTED AT LEAST $640 MILLION ON CANCELLED GAS PLANTS

QUEEN’S PARK – The McGuinty Liberals have been far from honest about their squandering of at least $640 million of taxpayers’ money to cancel the Oakville and Mississauga power plant developments, Cambridge Ontario PC MPP Rob Leone said today.

“The government is trying to dupe the public and media into believing that TransCanada settled a $1-billion contract dispute for a mere $40 million,” Leone stated. “This is offensive to hard-working Ontarians as these cancellations will surely result in significant increases on hydro bills.”

Energy experts agree that the scrapping of the two plants will result in fees and penalties in the range of $640 million to potentially more than $1 billion. According to energy expert and former banker Parker Gallant, “Full details of this fiasco may never be known. Ontario’s Society of Professional Engineers said Monday it believes major additional costs to Trans¬Canada and others are likely buried in documents that may never see daylight.”

“The McGuinty Liberals have engaged in a campaign of concealment and deception throughout the gas plant fiasco,” Leone continued. “They are determined to hide the true costs of these cancellations from Ontarians.”

Documents released Monday reveal the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) advised the government they would be “pleased” if a negotiated settlement with TransCanada “does not exceed $1.2 billion.” The 36,000 documents, many of which were heavily redacted, contain a “Replacement Project Comparison” chart detailing the OPA’s “counter-proposal” of $487 million in response to TransCanada’s $952-million settlement request.

“We have emails from high-ranking bureaucrats at the OPA and Ministry of Energy discussing their desire to settle the Oakville cancellation for anywhere between $487 million to $1.2 billion, yet the Liberals expect Ontarians to believe their spin that this decision will cost taxpayers only $40 million,” Leone said.

“The Liberal government’s selfish and politically-motivated decision to cancel these two plants means that hundreds of millions of dollars will not go towards important public services, like front-line healthcare and education. This has hurt Ontario and taxpayers deserve the truth,” Leone concluded.

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For further information, contact Christine Bujold (416) 325-1330 christine.bujold@pc.ola.org

Liberals withholding information, says MPP

Hundreds of millions of dollars wasted, says Leone

by Bill Jackson, The Cambridge Times

Cambridge MPP Rob Leone has been front and centre at Queen’s Park this week after moving a motion in the Ontario legislature that could find Energy Minister Chris Bentley in contempt of parliament.

Leone contends the Liberal government is withholding information pertaining to the cancellation of power plants in Liberal ridings of Oakville (in 2010), and Mississauga last year, 11 days before the provincial election. MPP Brad Duguid was energy minister at the time.

The government has admitted that the cost of cancelling the Oakville gas plant is approximately $40 million and that cancelling the Mississauga gas plant, which was already under construction, will cost $190 million.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said his government has developed plans for 17 gas power plants.

“Two of them we did not get right,” he said. “There are costs associated with their relocations. We take responsibility for that. We think it’s right for us to listen to communities when they express their concerns.”

According to Leone, Bentley was called before the Standing Committee on Estimates two months ago where he testified the decision to cancel the Mississauga power plant was made by the Liberal campaign team.

“This is a government that put the plants where they did,” Leone said. “They sited them there. They had a reason to do that…and the reality is when they thought they were going to lose seats in Mississauga and Toronto and in Oakville, they started to change channels.”

Leone charges that the decisions comprise one of the most costly “seat saving programs” in Canadian history and he has been pushing for details into the true cost of the decisions for months.

On Monday, after being found in breach of parliamentary privilege by Speaker of the legislature Dave Levac earlier this month, Bentley was forced to hand over 36,000 pages of documents pertaining to the closure of the Mississauga and Oakville power plants. Opposition party members say that some documents are incomplete and reveal additional costs for generators and need for power line infrastructure.

The power plant planned for Oakville is being moved to Napanee and the one planned for Mississauga will be built in Sarnia. Many critics expect that the cost of cancelling the gas plants and moving them will be much more than $230 million. Combined, Leone expects it will cost almost $650 million dollars.

The documents provided contain no emails from the Liberal campaign team and no emails from former minister of energy, Brad Duguid, noted Leone. The former minister is not cited in any documents.

“No one in this legislature requested partial documents, or blacked out documents. We requested all documents, and that clearly isn’t what we have been given.”

All legislative business grinded to a halt on Tuesday and debate on Leone’s motion of contempt continued into Wednesday.

Leone said the issue was of interest to him because Cambridge was potentially one of the sites where a gas power plant could be located.

At the very least, the money wasted could have been used to fund much-needed hospital expansion, MRIs or cancer treatment, he believes.

“This is a government that’s spent hundreds of millions of dollars when energy prices are going up as a result of the decisions they’ve made, not only in power plant locations, but the Green Energy Act.”

Cambridge MPP Rob Leone moved a motion today that puts Minister of Energy, Chris Bentley, one step closer to Contempt of the Legislature.  Leone, who raised a Point of Privilege on August 27th, has been pushing for details into the true cost of the Oakville Plant closure.

Yesterday, the Minister was forced to hand over 36,000 pages of documents pertaining to the closure of the Mississauga and Oakville power plants. The documents, however, were incomplete.

“We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface”, said Leone “but we are already seeing an increase in cost. It’s rapidly becoming the most expensive seat saver program in the history of the country.”

The Minister advertised the cost yesterday at only $40 Million, but recent documents showing cost for generators and a need for power line infrastructure has pushed the price tag north of $450 Million.

“Combined, the cancelled Oakville and Mississauga power plants cost almost $650 million dollars,” said Leone. “That’s money that could have built Cambridge Memorial Hospital and provided new MRIs and cancer treatment.”

Minister Bentley was called before the Standing Committee on Estimates two months ago where he testified that the decision to cancel the Mississauga power plant was made by the Liberal campaign team.

However, the documents contain no emails coming from the Liberal campaign team and no emails from former Minister of Energy, Brad Duguid. The former Minister of Energy is not cited in the documents, meaning he either did not say anything on this file, or they are withholding information.

For Leone, that doesn’t add up.

“We need to get to the bottom of this mess. No one in this Legislature requested partial documents, or blacked out documents. We requested all documents, and that clearly isn’t what we have been given.”

For further information, please contact

Cal MacLellan | Office of Rob Leone | 416.325.8451 | cal.maclellan@pc.ola.org

All are welcome for a celebration to recognize local achievement

Ontario is celebrating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne 60 years ago, by awarding outstanding Canadians with a Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Fourteen medals will be presented by MPP Rob Leone, to community members or organizations in Cambridge who have made exceptional contributions to the province and country.

The ceremony will take place Thursday September 20^th at the Galt Country Club from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and residents from Cambridge and North Dumfries are encouraged to attend. Below is a list of this year’s recipients.

Greg Durocher

John Friesen

Sandra Goodwin

Ken Gray

Larry Hardman

Constance Hilborn

Alan McColl

Lieut. Col. Jarret McDonald

Josh Nelson

Simon Poladian

Pat Singleton

Anne Tinker

Peter Tudisco

Prakash Venkataraman

QUOTES

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to present our local leaders with this well-deserved honour. Each one of these 14 Canadians is a shining example of what can be accomplished when community spirit and selflessness come together.” – Rob Leone, MPP Cambridge

“We encourage everyone in Cambridge to join us Thursday. This is truly a once in a lifetime honour.” – Rob Leone, MPP Cambridge

QUICK FACTS

• 60,000 citizens across Canada will receive the Diamond Jubilee Medal.
• Ontario is recognizing over 2,000 individuals for their outstanding contributions.
• Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s reign of 60 years is the second-longest for a British monarch; only Queen Victoria has reigned longer.
• Her coronation service in 1953 was the first to be televised.
• The Queen was named Elizabeth after her mother, Alexandra after George V’s mother, who had died six months earlier, and Mary after her paternal grandmother.
• There are 57 countries in the British Commonwealth.

For more information, or a backgrounder on medal recipients, please contact:

Cal MacLellan | Office of Rob Leone, MPP | cal.maclellan@pc.ola.or |416.325.8451

Rob Ferguson
Queen’s Park Bureau