Gas plant charges

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The scandal that cost Ontario taxpayers more than a billion dollars, and cost one premier his job, has now led to criminal charges.

Yesterday, two of Dalton McGuinty’s former staffers were criminally charged in relation to the gas plant scandal and deleting government documents.

Like a skeleton in their closet, this partially constructed gas plant in Mississauga acts as a reminder of a scandal plagued provincial government and now, charges.

Dalton McGuinty’s former Deputy Chief Laura Miller , and Chief of Staff David Livingston have each been charged with:

Breach of trust.
Mischief in relation to data.
Misuse of a computer system to commit the offence of mischief.

The charges come from the OPP investigation which alleges that Millers boyfriend, Peter Faiste, was paid $10 000 to wipe files off more than 24 computers and make communication about the gas plants disappear. Miller, who now lives in vancouver tweeted “I’ve stepped down from @bcliberals as I prepare to vigorously defend myself back in Ontario.”

“It was a surprise in terms of the timing, we had no, we had no knowledge but the OPP makes those decisions independently.” said Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Premier Wynne would not comment further, but did point out that her predecessor had not been charged. As did McGuinty’s lawyer writing, “today’s events again confirm there was no wrongdoing on the part of the former premier.”

In the time leading up to the 2011 election, McGuinty canceled construction of two gas plants in areas where his party was in political trouble. It has since plagued his reputation, with accusation that he made a political decision at the taxpayers expense. He even faced questions on the matter last month on The Agenda with Steve Pakin.

“You’ve got to expect that people are going to say ‘oh my god, you’re not doing this on merits, you’re doing it to save some seats around Mississauga.”

“Ya but that’s not how I operate.” said McGuinty.

McGuinty won that election with a slim minority, but he ultimately resigned in 2012.

The decision to move the two proposed gas plants one of which would have been in Mississauga, the other in Oakville has cost taxpayers $1.2 billion. During the subsequent investigation opposition members were saying that this was criminal, and now they’re saying they feel vindicated.

Former conservative leader Tim Hudak and MPP Lisa McLoed were even sued by Premier Wynne for their accusations that she was involved in a cover up. That suit was dropped.

“These are very serious charges. First a billion dollars, and as we’ve learned in the past, the cover up is always the bigger crime.” said PC MPP Vic Fideli.

You may recall during the hearings into the gas plant scandal many of the oppositions questions were disallowed and many of the main parties seemed to simply run out the clock without answering difficult questions.

The NDP’s Peter Tabuns pointed out, when this goes to trial, we will learn a lot more about who else was involved.