Staff
The price tag for the Ontario Liberal government’s cancellation of two gas plants in the Toronto area rose to $1.1 billion yesterday following the release of Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s special investigation into what Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker called, “that spending scandal.”
The provincial auditor general also confirmed that Ontario taxpayers will be paying higher prices as a result of the “Premier’s questionable decisions” that critics say was aimed at protecting the companies involved in the power plant projects.
Walker says the Liberal Party of Ontario must immediately repay this money.
“Essentially, the Liberals ran their GTA campaign on the taxpayers’ dime,” he says. “It’s entirely inappropriate, and as such, they should be immediately repaying the $1.1 billion.”
Walker says recent spending scandals such as Ornge, eHealth and most recently the “gas plant seat-saver boondoggle” means the Liberals have completely broken trust with the people of Ontario.
“This is $1.1 billion that is not going toward the building of community hospitals, such as the new Markdale Hospital that was promised to us more than 10 years ago, toward family and children services at Children’s Aid Societies, which are now facing severe cuts to programs and staff, and delivering relief to our rising hydro costs,” Walker says. “In Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, we’re being forced to close schools while the Liberal government continues to waste money on scandals.”
“Every time this government wastes a dollar, they have to cut it out of our core services, whether it’s health, education or social services,” Walker says. “Enough is enough. There is a better way, and it’s time for the Liberals to pay up and ship out.”
