OPP execute search warrant, likely target: cancelled gas plants info
by The Canadian Press
Police only disclosed that a search warrant had been executed, and would not confirm media reports they had raided a Mississauga facility where old government computers are stored
[UPDATED] TORONTO—Ontario Provincial Police executed a search warrant Wednesday as part of an investigation into the deletion of emails on cancelled gas plants by staff in former premier Dalton McGuinty’s office.
Police would say only that the search warrant had been executed, and would not confirm media reports that the raid took place at a Mississauga storage facility where old government computers are kept.
Police were called in after the Progressive Conservatives complained senior staff in McGuinty’s office deleted emails about the Liberal’s decision to kill planned gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga prior to the 2011 election, at a cost of up to $1.1 billion.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives say a police raid to find deleted emails from senior Liberals on cancelled gas plants shows the extent of the attempt to cover up the scandal.
PC critic Vic Fedeli says police convinced a judge to issue a subpoena, and insists the investigation is proof that information on the cancelled gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga is still being withheld.
The Tories complained the Liberals repeatedly refused to produce all documents on the gas plant cancellations that had been requested by a legislative committee, and even Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner complained she had been misled about deleted government email accounts.
Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office says she broadened the scope of the committee hearings and produced more documents since taking over from McGuinty, and “will continue to co-operate fully in any effort to gather information.”
The gas plant hearings, which have been going on for more than a year, resumed Tuesday when the legislature returned from the 10-week Christmas break.
The Tories say the committee will keep digging until it finds out who ordered the coverup, noting it was the auditor general—not the Liberals—who confirmed the actual cost of the gas plant cancellations could hit $1.1 billion.
