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