“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.

-30-

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