FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 30, 2013

STATEMENT FROM ONTARIO PC MPP ROB LEONE

The following is a statement from Ontario PC MPP Rob Leone regarding recently released documents from the Ontario Power Authority:

“This morning I received further evidence that the McGuinty–Wynne Liberal government willfully misled the public about the cost of cancelling power plants in Oakville and Mississauga.

“In an anonymous Ontario Power Authority (OPA) memo leaked to the Ontario PC Caucus, Jesse Kulendran – a former Liberal political staffer – instructed the OPA to redact and leave out information requested by the Legislature concerning the cancellation of two power plants.

“This is further evidence that the government misled the public and instructed the OPA not to search for related documents.  It’s obvious that the instruction to the OPA not to release these documents had to have come from someone in the Minister’s office.

“This raises serious concerns about inappropriate political interference.  Kathleen Wynne needs to strike a committee immediately if she is serious about getting to the bottom of this politically motivated decision aimed at saving five Liberal seats and costing Ontario taxpayers over $1 billion.”

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 6, 2013

THE QUESTION THAT MCGUINTY’S SUCCESSORS NEED TO ANSWER

AJAX – Seven potential successors to Dalton McGuinty will continue to take Ontario down a path toward a $30 billion deficit, while hoping taxpayers don’t notice continued Liberal waste and embarrassments – like the Premier’s taxpayer-paid retirement trip to China, Ontario PC MPP Rob Leone said today.

“More than half a million Ontarians woke up this morning without a job, and Dalton McGuinty is giving himself a taxpayer-funded retirement gift,” said Leone. “He’s just another irrelevant Premier treating himself to a self-indulgent swan song.”

“After dragging Ontario into a deep financial hole, McGuinty is once again treating government and taxpayers’ money as his own personal ATM,” Leone added. “He knows this is an abuse of taxpayer dollars and he is trying to cover his tracks by dragging along Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Innovation, and Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.”

Leone said that because the Liberals shut down the Legislature, McGuinty can’t be called to account for this latest boondoggle. “The only ones who can stop this junket are the Liberal leadership candidates. They know that as his successor they’ll get stuck with the bill.”

“Each of the Liberal leadership candidates needs to call on Dalton McGuinty to justify his luxury tour. Do they think that it is OK for an outgoing Premier to waste even more tax dollars on a vacation?”

Contact: Christine Bujold | (416) 325-1330 | christine.bujold@pc.ola.org

Cambridge MPP Rob Leone was pleased to be joined by PC Energy Critic Vic Fedeli to tour thriving local businesses connected to the energy sector. As part of the PC Caucus energy tour, Leone and Fedeli made stops at Aecon Industrial, Babcock & Wilcox and Engineered Electric Controls.

“Cambridge has a thriving energy sector and the three businesses that we have visited today provide the region with good paying jobs. This is something we need to see more of in Ontario”

The tour comes on the heels of the PC Caucus white paper Paths to Prosperity:  Affordable Energy, which presents 13 bold ideas to transform Ontario’s energy sector and restore its job-creating competitive advantage. Leone was pleased to see the way these companies can hold their own and a reformed energy policy would give them the ability to thrive here in Ontario.

“The facilities are here,” said Leone. “Look around the region and you will see Ontario companies fighting for a piece of the pie in the energy development sector.  We need a government that will work with them and help them grow, and we don’t see that today.”

In addition to raising taxes on businesses, the Ontario Liberal government has wasted billions of dollars on missteps in the energy sector during their time in power. From cancelling gas plants for political reasons, to million dollar subsidies to prop up unsustainable companies, to the feed-in tariff program, the government has got it wrong time and time again.

“Companies like the ones we visited today will always be better at creating jobs than the government,” Fedeli added. “We need our government to make smarter decisions on behalf of Ontarians, to ensure money isn’t wasted on pet projects.”

The three businesses on today’s tour provide Cambridge with more than a thousand good paying jobs in the nuclear, biomass, natural gas and hydroelectric industries.

“The Ontario PC party is the only party that will bring much needed reform the energy sector and job creation,” concluded Leone. “It’s time to be smarter about how we approach marrying the two.”

Cambridge MPP Rob Leone met with local job creators Friday to discuss ways to help 600,000 out of work Ontarians get back on track.

The roundtable, consisting of representatives from the Cambridge business community and the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, shared ideas as a part of CFIB’s Small Business Saturday and discussed the new PC Caucus white paper, Paths to Prosperity: An Agenda for Growth.

Released earlier this month, Paths to Prosperity puts forward 15 bold ideas to help businesses thrive and, in turn, bring jobs back to Ontario.

“I’m always excited to hear from local businesses and to talk about how to get Ontario back on track.” said Leone. “I wish I could take these ideas back to Queen’s Park, but unfortunately, the Liberal government felt it was more politically important to prorogue the Legislature.”

Work at the Ontario Legislature was halted Monday after Dalton McGuinty stepped down as Premier, and will remain closed until a successor is chosen. During this time, no legislation can be debated and all previous bills expire, including Leone’s Balanced Budget and Debt Limit Act, which was tabled last spring to deal with Ontario’s fiscal crisis.

Leone said this gives him more time to speak with job creators, and find out which tools they need to get the economy back on track. He says the PC caucus is exploring all avenues to ease the tax burden on the backbone of our economy, including reductions on corporate taxes, the HST and personal income tax.

“Whether it’s home builders, print shops or restaurants, businesses want a government that works with them, rather than standing in their way.” said Leone. “If we are going to get out of this massive hole that Dalton McGuinty has created, we have to start putting faith in the private sector.”

PCs are calling on the McGuinty Liberals to stop with their delay tactics and immediately begin the investigation into the government’s $650-million gas plant scandal by re-striking the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, Ontario PC MPP for Cambridge Rob Leone said today.

“It’s been one week since the Legislature voted in favour of holding an investigation into the Liberals’ outrageous decisions to scrap the gas plants,” Leone said. “They tried to cover up their scandal and hide the true cost for cancelling the plants from taxpayers. They must be held accountable, and they must begin the investigation immediately.”

Leone stated there’s absolutely no reason for the Liberals to wait the full 10 days to call the Committee, as allowed under Legislature rules. “The only reason to wait is to hide the truth for as long as possible about the true cost of the cancelled gas plants and the full extent of political interference by the Liberal Party in Ontario’s energy file.”

In accordance with last week’s vote, the Standing Committee is now empowered to investigate the Liberals’ refusal to release all documents, the extent of political interference and the true cost of the gas plant fiasco. To avoid any further delays, Ontario PC House Leader Jim Wilson sent a letter to Government House Leader John Milloy listing many of the high ranking Liberal politicians and employees whom the Ontario PCs want to call before the committee to testify.

“The Liberals are getting plenty of notice so they can start clearing their schedules,” Leone stated. “Last spring, Premier McGuinty refused to testify before the Public Accounts Committee on his government’s Ornge fiasco. We don’t want to see a repeat of the same behaviour.”

For the last nine years, the Liberals’ deliberate policy decisions have driven our province’s economy into the ground, Leone continued. Since the last general election, there are now 30,000 more Ontarians searching for work, for a total of close to 600,000 people. With a potential $411-billion debt facing the province by 2017, the cancelled gas plants do nothing but further burden taxpayers, all because the Liberals wanted to save a few seats in Oakville and Mississauga.

“It’s a sad day for Ontarians when such extreme steps must be taken to keep the government honest about its actions,” Leone concluded about the investigation. “This province needs a plan for getting our economy back on track, not a government that squanders public funds to save its own political skin.”

“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 9, 2012

LEONE: BEGIN INVESTIGATION INTO $650M GAS PLANT FIASCO NOW

QUEEN’S PARK – The Ontario PCs are calling on the McGuinty Liberals to stop with their delay tactics and immediately begin the investigation into the government’s $650-million gas plant scandal by re-striking the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, Ontario PC MPP for Cambridge Rob Leone said today.

“It’s been one week since the Legislature voted in favour of holding an investigation into the Liberals’ outrageous decisions to scrap the gas plants,” Leone said. “They tried to cover up their scandal and hide the true cost for cancelling the plants from taxpayers. They must be held accountable, and they must begin the investigation immediately.”

Leone stated there’s absolutely no reason for the Liberals to wait the full 10 days to call the Committee, as allowed under Legislature rules. “The only reason to wait is to hide the truth for as long as possible about the true cost of the cancelled gas plants and the full extent of political interference by the Liberal Party in Ontario’s energy file.”

In accordance with last week’s vote, the Standing Committee is now empowered to investigate the Liberals’ refusal to release all documents, the extent of political interference and the true cost of the gas plant fiasco. To avoid any further delays, Ontario PC House Leader Jim Wilson sent a letter to Government House Leader John Milloy listing many of the high ranking Liberal politicians and employees whom the Ontario PCs want to call before the committee to testify.

“The Liberals are getting plenty of notice so they can start clearing their schedules,” Leone stated. “Last spring, Premier McGuinty refused to testify before the Public Accounts Committee on his government’s Ornge fiasco. We don’t want to see a repeat of the same behaviour.”

For the last nine years, the Liberals’ deliberate policy decisions have driven our province’s economy into the ground, Leone continued. Since the last general election, there are now 30,000 more Ontarians searching for work, for a total of close to 600,000 people. With a potential $411-billion debt facing the province by 2017, the cancelled gas plants do nothing but further burden taxpayers, all because the Liberals wanted to save a few seats in Oakville and Mississauga.

“It’s a sad day for Ontarians when such extreme steps must be taken to keep the government honest about its actions,” Leone concluded about the investigation. “This province needs a plan for getting our economy back on track, not a government that squanders public funds to save its own political skin.”

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

“They didn’t say sorry or apologize to taxpayers or their fellow MPPs…Clearly they did wrong, they ripped off taxpayers, and they’re not even sorry about it.”

                                                –Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak, Ottawa Citizen, October 2, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 3, 2012

LEONE: COMMITTEE TO ENSURE LIBERALS COME CLEAN ON $650M SCANDAL

QUEEN’S PARK – Taxpayers have come closer to learning the truth about the Liberals’ scandalous waste of at least $650 million in public funds after the Legislature voted in favour yesterday of investigating the Liberals’ ongoing refusal to release all documents in full, Cambridge Ontario PC MPP Rob Leone said today.

“What makes the Liberals’ gas plant scandal so difficult for taxpayers to swallow is the fact that the government has told so many communities there’s no money for that new hospital or highway that’s been promised and cancelled so many times,” Leone said. “And then they pour salt into the wound by showing extreme contempt for taxpayers by refusing to release all of the gas plant documents without any missing sections.”

The Liberals’ ongoing refusal to release all documents in full resulted in the Legislature grinding to a halt last week as the House debated the motion of contempt. On Monday, 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.
Leone reiterated that when accounting for the cost of new transmission lines and purchasing turbines, the cost of the Liberals’ cancelled gas plants jumps to at least $650 million – money that could have gone towards services like education and front-line healthcare or paying down the debt, but instead was wasted on saving a few Liberal seats in the last general election.

“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.”

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