There should be charges laid for this deliberate debacle, boondoggle, whatever you want to call it, just to gain votes in the last election.
If the people of Ontario vote these idiots in again, even in minority, they deserve exactly what they get.
The following is a news quote
WATCH: Auditor reveals Oakville cancellation could cost at least $675 million; both plants $1.1 billion
The province's Auditor General has estimates the Oakville gas plant cancellation in 2010 will cost tax- and rate-payers $675 million.
However, Bonnie Lysyk says that she came to that number after factoring in future savings of $437 million, which means the actual cost could be as high as $1.1 billion.
She tabled her 24-page report on the costs at Queen's Park Tuesday.
Lysyk underlines the $675 million cost will be stretched out over 20 years and could rise by another $140 million. That's due to a possible increase of delivery costs for gas to Napannee, where the plant would be relocated.
The total pricetag, factoring in future savings, of both the Mississauga and Oakville cancellations is also $1.1 billion.
Construction at the Oakville location never began.
The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) had estimated you the cost to be $310 million, while the province maintained that there are only $40 million in sunk costs.
Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk took over from Jim McCarter last month.
McCarter released a report on the Mississauga gas plant cancellation in the spring, revealing the cost to cancel and relocate that plant to be $275 million.
The cancellation of both plants have been admitted by the Liberals to be a political move, saving the seats of a handful of local Liberal MPPs including Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Kevin Flynn.
Lysyk details some of the reason why costs are so high in the report:
- The Premier's office told developer Trans Canada Energy (TCE) that it would be compensated for the full financial value if its contract when the decision was made. The auditor says the province could have relied on protections instead, which would have minimized damages/cost.
- The minister of energy told TCE to relocate the plant to Napanee, even though it would cost more to bring natural gas out there.
The total pricetag, factoring in future savings, of both the Mississauga and Oakville cancellations is $1.1 billion.
Premier Kathleen Wynne released the following statement: "In 2010 and 2011, the government listened to the advice of experts and began to build gas fired power plants on locations in Oakville and Mississauga over the objections of local residents.
Over time, it became evident that the concerns of the residents in those communities were legitimate.
The government listened to those concerns and cancelled those power plants for relocation elsewhere - all parties agreed with those decisions.
Estimates vary, including today's estimate from the Auditor General, of what this will cost over the next 20 years, but all of them are unacceptably large.
Money is too tight for tax dollars to be spent in any way that is not productive.
As a member of the cabinet under which this happened, I take full responsibility and offer a full apology.
As a new Premier leading a new government, I pledge to you that this will not happen under my watch.
My new government has the energy and idealism that is the enemy of these kinds of errors.
Read more
If the people of Ontario vote these idiots in again, even in minority, they deserve exactly what they get.
The following is a news quote
WATCH: Auditor reveals Oakville cancellation could cost at least $675 million; both plants $1.1 billion
The province's Auditor General has estimates the Oakville gas plant cancellation in 2010 will cost tax- and rate-payers $675 million.
However, Bonnie Lysyk says that she came to that number after factoring in future savings of $437 million, which means the actual cost could be as high as $1.1 billion.
She tabled her 24-page report on the costs at Queen's Park Tuesday.
Lysyk underlines the $675 million cost will be stretched out over 20 years and could rise by another $140 million. That's due to a possible increase of delivery costs for gas to Napannee, where the plant would be relocated.
The total pricetag, factoring in future savings, of both the Mississauga and Oakville cancellations is also $1.1 billion.
Construction at the Oakville location never began.
The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) had estimated you the cost to be $310 million, while the province maintained that there are only $40 million in sunk costs.
Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk took over from Jim McCarter last month.
McCarter released a report on the Mississauga gas plant cancellation in the spring, revealing the cost to cancel and relocate that plant to be $275 million.
The cancellation of both plants have been admitted by the Liberals to be a political move, saving the seats of a handful of local Liberal MPPs including Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Kevin Flynn.
Lysyk details some of the reason why costs are so high in the report:
- The Premier's office told developer Trans Canada Energy (TCE) that it would be compensated for the full financial value if its contract when the decision was made. The auditor says the province could have relied on protections instead, which would have minimized damages/cost.
- The minister of energy told TCE to relocate the plant to Napanee, even though it would cost more to bring natural gas out there.
The total pricetag, factoring in future savings, of both the Mississauga and Oakville cancellations is $1.1 billion.
Premier Kathleen Wynne released the following statement: "In 2010 and 2011, the government listened to the advice of experts and began to build gas fired power plants on locations in Oakville and Mississauga over the objections of local residents.
Over time, it became evident that the concerns of the residents in those communities were legitimate.
The government listened to those concerns and cancelled those power plants for relocation elsewhere - all parties agreed with those decisions.
Estimates vary, including today's estimate from the Auditor General, of what this will cost over the next 20 years, but all of them are unacceptably large.
Money is too tight for tax dollars to be spent in any way that is not productive.
As a member of the cabinet under which this happened, I take full responsibility and offer a full apology.
As a new Premier leading a new government, I pledge to you that this will not happen under my watch.
My new government has the energy and idealism that is the enemy of these kinds of errors.
Read more
