Ont. mayor slams Liberals for allowing gas plant, says opposition playing games
by The Canadian Press
Fired-up mayor told legislative committee it doesn't matter who made decision to cancel plant
TORONTO—An Ontario mayor is slamming the governing Liberals for permitting a gas plant to be built in her city.
Mississauga, Ont., mayor Hazel McCallion also had little patience for the opposition parties, saying they’re wasting time and playing political games by needlessly focusing on who decided to cancel the plant.
The fired-up mayor told a legislative committee that it doesn’t matter who made the decision to cancel the plant.
McCallion says all that matters is that the permit was granted and taxpayer money was wasted.
She says the Ontario Power Authority made a bad decision to locate the plant in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, when there was no need for the extra power.
She says the government should also look at its other bodies like Ornge and eHealth which have caused embarrassment “second to none.”
The Liberals say the cost of cancelling the Mississauga plant in the dying days of the 2011 election campaign was $190-million.
They also cancelled a plant in Oakville in 2010, which they claimed would cost $40-million.
The committee also heard that the Liberals would have seen a memo showing that the costs for cancelling the plant would have been higher than $40-million.
Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli has acknowledged that the figure they gave the public could be wrong.
