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Gas Plant Scandal

Friday, June 6, 2014

June 6, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Saturday, June 7, 2014What Are Your Top Reasons For Voting?

ADD YOUR LIST IN THE COMMENT BOX BELOW

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, June 7, 2014

Saturday June 7, 2014Can’t stand any of them? Are you in a non-swing riding where you know marking an x won’t really mean anything? You can DECLINE YOUR VOTE.

The 41st Ontario general election will be held on June 12, 2014. It was ordered to take place by Lieutenant Governor David Onley on May 2, 2014. The decision came upon the recommendation of Premier Kathleen Wynne after Ontario New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath announced that the NDP, whose support was critical to the survival of the Ontario Liberal Party’s minority government in the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario, would vote against the Liberals’ proposed budget. (Source)

10 best reasons to vote this election

 1. Pick your billion-dollar transportation plan

 The Liberals will pay for rapid transit in Hamilton, but won’t utter the letters L-R-T. The New Democrats will fund light rail, but won’t say how. And the Tories, well, they’ll scrap it all in favour of a contentious mid-peninsula highway past the airport.

 2. Class size conundrum

 The Progressive Conservatives plan to increase class sizes for children of all ages, while at the same time cutting teachers and school staff. The consequence is more concentrated classrooms, which could be challenging for your kids. But the party will bring back the old math curriculum so your kids aren’t so dependant on calculators.

 3. Affordable housing

 More than 5,000 people are waiting for affordable housing in Hamilton, and the Liberals are the only ones with a platform to fix it. But the party’s commitments still fall desperately short of the need for more funding, housing stock and capital repairs.

 4. Crumbling roads and bridges

 The city has a $2-billion backlog on needed repairs to bridges, roads and other infrastructure and all it takes is a quick drive down Burlington Street to prove it. The Grits and the New Democrats have both pledged $29 billion to transportation over the next decade, but it’s not clear how much of that could end up on our city streets.

 5. Pension promises

 The centrepiece of the Liberal election platform is the creation of a provincial pension plan that would double the retirement income of recipients — a potential boon for the more than 3 million Ontario workers who haven’t saved enough. Is it the perfect solution or, as Ontario Tory Leader Tim Hudak put it, a “job-killing payroll tax”?

 6. Scandals

 From cancelled gas plants to a massive research bailout, Kathleen Wynne and her Liberals have been plagued by scandals on the campaign trail — and her political foes warn it’s not the end of it. This is your chance to hold the Grits accountable.

 7. 100,000 pink slips

Hudak says he’ll cut 100,000 public sector jobs and then create a million more jobs. His math has been widely criticized. Do you believe in a job-creation tax credit or a jobs and prosperity fund? On Thursday, you can choose your preferred plan — but you might want to brush up on your arithmetic before you cast your vote.

8. Think of those in need

 The Liberals and New Democrats promise to tackle poverty through initiatives such as student nutrition programs, child health and dental benefits, and higher wages for the lowest earners. The PCs also support boosting the minimum wage. These steps would benefit Hamiltonians — one in five of whom live below the poverty line — but they still fall short of a “living wage.”

9. School closures

 The Grits have offered incentives to close half-empty schools, while the New Democrats promise cash to keep them open. The Green party? It’ll create a single school system in Ontario, saving more than $1 billion a year — and, potentially, your neighbourhood school.

10. Democracy

 It’s been 70 years since D-Day when more than 350 Canadian soldiers died fighting for our freedom and democratic rights. Honour their ultimate sacrifice by getting to the polls. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

CBC Ontario Votes

CTV Election 2014

Spec Votes 2014

SOCIAL MEDIA

This cartoon appeared on National Newswatch, and Yahoo Canada News.

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: Andrea Horwath, auto insurance, Corporate tax rates, Dalton McGuinty, debt, Downloading, education, eHealth, electricity, Gas Plant Scandal, Gax Tax, health, hydro, Illustration, Kathleen Wynne, leadership, Mike Harris, Minimum wage, OLG, Ontario, Ontario Election 2014, Ornge, pension, Public Service, research, Social services, Tim Hudak, Transit, Tuition, University, wages

Tuesday April 8, 2014

April 8, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Tuesday April 8, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 8, 2014

Gas plants scandal: Tim Hudak won’t ‘back down’ on comments about Kathleen Wynne

Breaking two days of silence on a libel notice from Premier Kathleen Wynne, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak says he won’t “back down” on comments about her involvement in the $1.1-billion gas plants scandal.

“They’re not going to silence us,” he said Sunday. “We’re not going to back down. Of course not.”

Hudak was responding to a libel notice served Friday by Wynne’s lawyer over comments he made that “she oversaw and possibly ordered the criminal destruction of documents.”

His remarks came after Ontario Provincial Police revealed they are investigating former premier Dalton McGuinty’s last chief of staff, David Livingston, for breach of trust.

Police allege Livingston got a non-government computer expert to wipe clean computer hard drives in the premier’s office using a special password that was in effect from Feb. 6 to March 20 of 2013, in the dying days of the McGuinty era and first few weeks of the Wynne administration.

Saturday, March 29, 2014The allegations have not been tested in court and Livingston has denied any wrongdoing.

Wynne has said Hudak’s comments are false and “defamatory” because there are no police allegations specifically about her.
Police have said it is possible that hard drives were wiped after she came to power Feb. 11, 2013. A forensic examination is underway to determine that, and a detective has warned it could take “many months” for results.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014“I wish ‎Kathleen Wynne would spend as much time thinking about creating jobs as she is spending time with lawyers,” Hudak said on Newstalk1010 radio.

“Whether she likes this or not, this leads directly to the office of Kathleen Wynne,” he said of the scandal, which has dogged the Liberals since McGuinty scrapped gas-fired power plants in Oakville and Mississauga before the 2011 election to save the seats of five area Liberal MPPs.

‎That election reduced the Liberals to a minority. Wynne is now hoping the New Democrats will allow her upcoming spring budget to pass, averting the spring election Hudak wants. (Source: Toronto Star)

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SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Post by Dalton McGuinty: Ontario, up yours!
Posted in: Ontario Tagged: bride, Dalton McGuinty, Editorial Cartoon, Frankenstein, Gas Plant Scandal, Kathleen Wynne, Ontario, Tim Hudak

Saturday, March 29, 2014

March 29, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Saturday, March 29, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, March 29, 2014

Wynne distances herself from McGuinty in wake of new allegations

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne struggled to distance herself Thursday from her predecessor Dalton McGuinty, amid explosive police allegations that his chief of staff may have committed a breach of trust in the ongoing gas plants scandal.

Provincial police allege in unsealed court documents that they believe David Livingston gave an outside tech expert — the boyfriend of a senior staffer — access to 24 computers in the premier’s office.

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According to the documents, Livingston sought high-level access to the computers to “wipe clean the hard drives” after McGuinty resigned amid controversy over the costly cancellation of two gas plants.

It’s alleged that during the transition period to Wynne’s administration, Livingston arranged for his executive assistant
Wendy Wai to have special access to desktops in the premier’s office, even though she had little knowledge of computers.

Police believe Peter Faist, who wasn’t a government employee, was the person who actually accessed the 24 computers using Wai’s administrative privileges, including Miller’s, Livingston’s and other staffers.

Faist, who police believe is the partner of former deputy chief of staff Laura Miller, was never officially hired by the government and did not undergo the required security screening, the documents say.

According to two staffers in the premier’s office, Faist accessed their computers a few days before Wynne was sworn in, saying he was getting them ready for the next government, police say.

The staffers said they couldn’t log into their computers after Faist left and called IT staff, who said it was clear that system files had been deleted, police allege. (Source: Toronto Star)

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: Dalton McGuinty, Editorial Cartoon, emails, Gas Plant Scandal, Ontario, Ontario Liberal Party

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

October 21, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Kathleen Wynne to launch ‘open government’ push to boost transparency

Premier Kathleen Wynne wants to fling open the doors of government.

Dogged by the lingering controversy over the Liberals’ shadowy cancellation of two gas plants at a cost of up $1.1 billion, Wynne is pushing for greater transparency at Queen’s Park.

“Together, let’s do government differently,” the premier writes in an unusual open letter to Ontarians to be released Monday.

“We need to make information easier to find, understand and use, so that we can design services that deliver better results to the people of Ontario. We must also unlock public data so that you can help us solve problems and find new ways of doing things.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Can't Wynne on spelling CHRIS YOUNG / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ontario Premier Kathleen Can’t Wynne on spelling
CHRIS YOUNG / THE CANADIAN PRESS

“I believe that government data belongs to the people of Ontario and so we will make government data open by default, limiting access only to safeguard privacy, security and confidentiality.”

To that end, the premier will turn to a top academic, a respected former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister, business leaders, and a bevy of experts on “open government” to improve public access to the inner workings of the province.

Wynne wants her administration to “open up more data and information” so Ontarians can “engage in the decision-making process and the development of policy.”

She hopes that along with making government more accountable, the availability of more data will “boost innovation and economic productivity.”

“By putting data online for fresh analysis, we can spark innovative discoveries that could help grow our economy and improve peoples’ lives,” she writes in her letter. (Source: Toronto Star)

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Posted in: Ontario Tagged: accountability, Editorial Cartoon, Gas Plant Scandal, government, Kathleen Wynne, Liberal Party of Ontario, Ontario, open government, transparency

Saturday, October 12, 2012

October 11, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

Saturday, October 12, 2012By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, October 12, 2012

Here lies the wreckage of Dalton McGuinty’s self-serving gas plant decisions

In contemplating the disastrous consequences of the Ontario government’s two arbitrary gas plant closures, it does well to remember the performance put on by then-premier Dalton McGuinty before his abrupt resignation.

Never hesitant to play the Boy Scout, the premier prorogued the legislature rather than face questions about the gas plants, and then piously sought to blame the opposition for his troubles.

“I prorogued because the place was becoming overheated,” Mr. McGuinty insisted, citing a “spurious, phoney” suggestion that his energy minister had been in contempt of the legislature for failing to produce documents related to the scandal.

“Rather than do the people’s business, they allowed themselves to be consumed by that phoney contempt,” McGuinty said. In a CBC interview he declared that he’d acted to prevent further “shenanigans” by opposition parties that were “wasting time” in trying to get to the bottom of the scandal, rather than following his preferred agenda.

“I’ve tried to lead a progressive, activist government. I think government is a wonderful tool, but you’ve got to pick the damn thing up and you’ve got to work with it,” he said.

Oh brother. The words stick in the craw, never more so than in the wake of Tuesday’s revelations — finally, and against all Liberal efforts — that the ultimate bill for Mr. McGuinty’s own gas plant shenanigans will likely top $1 billion. Particularly galling is the finding of Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk that Mr. McGuinty’s government could have avoided much of the cost of cancelling the Oakville plant, but instead put party prospects and advice from political advisors ahead of the public interest and the provincial purse. (Source: National Post)

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: Dalton McGuinty, Editorial Cartoon, Gas Plant Scandal, Kathleen Wynne, Ontario, Ontario Liberal Party, Thanksgiving, turkey
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