Gas plant Relocation 16 Times higher than Liberal Government Estimate

QUEEN’S PARK – Today Ontario’s Provincial Auditor Bonnie Lysyk revealed that the cancellation of the Oakville gas plant will cost Ontario’s taxpayers $675 million – over 16 times the $40 million previously estimated by the government. That figure could increase by up to another $140 million for gas deliveries for the new site

“Today the Auditor General revealed that the government significantly misled the people of Ontario about the true cost of cancelling the Oakville gas plant in order to save a Liberal seat in the last election,” said Ernie Hardeman, Oxford MPP. “Now the taxpayers and hydro users of Ontario are stuck paying the $675 million for this plant that the Liberal government spent on cancelling this plant.”

“This cost is significantly more than may have been necessary,” Lysyk said. “A number of questionable decisions made along the way contributed to this situation.”

The Auditor General stated the cost of building new transmission lines to bring power from the new plant location to the Toronto was not included in the $675 million and would be additional.

During her press conference Lysyk acknowledged that “$675 million dollars would buy a lot of services.”

In 2010 the government announced cancellation of the Oakville gas plant after the Liberal MPP’s seat was threatened. The Ontario Liberal campaign announced the cancellation of the Mississauga gas plant during the 2011 election. The Auditor General’s report on the Mississauga gas plant, released in April, found the relocation cost $275 million bringing the total cost of moving the two plants to $950 million.

“The Auditor’s report confirmed what we have been saying– that the Liberal Party put their interests before the interests of the people of Ontario,” said Hardeman. “How can this government face people struggling to pay their hydro bills and taxes or are being told there isn’t enough money for the services they want, knowing that their government wasted nearly one billion dollars on a political decision?”

The report is available at www.auditor.on.ca.

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For more information, contact:
Ernie Hardeman, MPP Oxford
(416) 325-1239