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What’s in a number? how about half a billion? does it mean anything to you? how about more? Maybe $700-million, or even a billion? Well, we will find out Tuesday just how much those numbers matter to Ontario voters when Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk releases her “definitive” report on the cost of cancelling a proposed gas plant in residential Oakville. Scot Urquhart has a hint of what we may expect when the numbers are finally released.
Opposition parties have been railing for months about the “true” costs of the cancelled gas plants in Oakville, and Mississauga, accusing the government of cover-up, misinformation, and darkly cynical politics. Andrea Horwath is the leader of the provincial NDP party: “They moved these plants. They didn’t care what the price would be. They didn’t care what the cost to taxpayers or ratepayers. And they did it particularly for political reasons. That’s the thing that’s most disturbing to folks.”
But Premier Kathleen Wynne says allegations of misinformation, are misinformed. And her reason for ordering the audit in the first place: “Because there were numbers that were varying.”
That much is clear. A previous report on the cancelled gas plant in Mississauga, settled on a figure of $275-Million, an $85-Million variance, from previous Liberal estimates.
The Oakville plant could be more of the same. Already pegged at a cost of roughly $310-million, there are suggestions that the full cost could be anywhere from $100 to $200 million more. But those kinds of figures are meaningless to most voters say the Tories Lisa MacLeod: They see a couple of hundred million dollars as a big number. But what they really want to know is what does that cost mean to them on their hydro bill, their other energy bills and their taxes.”
No matter what figures the Auditor General delivers tomorrow, it appears that the Liberals will welcome an end to this saga. And already, Finance Minister Charles Sousa is powering up for a positive spin on Liberal spending: “We’ve invested in our system which had been neglected for years previously. And those are the things that matter.”
We can expect at least a few more weeks of Opposition castigation before the issue runs its course. And while the gas plants may have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, they don’t seem to have cost the Liberals much, in terms of support. A poll by Innovative Research group, just a month ago, found that the issue just does not resonate with Ontario voters. Suggesting the Tories and New Democrats may be wasting their time and their breath on an issue that probably won’t make much difference, when the next election rolls around.
