Historic contempt motion goes to committee

Updated: The Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats ignored an appeal from premier Dalton McGuinty, and voted in favour of sending a contempt motion to a legislative committee.

The motion is against energy minister Chris Bentley over the cancellation of two gas plants. The Tories brought in the contempt motion, after the government refused to release documents on the cost of cancelling the power plants in Oakville and Mississauga.

Opposition parties had mixed emotions following the vote.

Conservative leader Tim Hudak: “The fact that we had the opposite, tells us they don’t understand that $650 million dollars of taxpayers money is wrong… a lack of apology means that if they get the chance they’ll do it again.”

NDP leader Andrea Horwath: “I think it’s neither a sad day or a historic day, it’s a day where the legislature has decided to put an issue to a committee for further study and review and I’m not going to pre-suppose the results of that committee’s work is.”

Premier McGuinty initially tried to shelve the motion and send only the issue of the gas plants to committee, but opposition parties blocked the move. Only a vote of the full legislature can find Bentley in contempt, something that’s never happened to an Ontario MPP.

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