seat

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 12, 2012

McGuinty buying Liberal seats with gas plant move

It’s called the Liberal seat saver program.

In the midst of last October’s election, the Liberals were under the gun.

With a minority government looming, they cancelled a controversial gas-fired power plant in Mississauga, saying they would “move” it.

In a stunning admission to the Legislature’s estimates committee Wednesday, Energy Minister Chris Bentley said the decision to scrap the plant came from the Liberal Party – not from the government.

You thought robocalls were bad? How about a party that, mid-election, takes $180 million of your hard-earned tax dollars – and piddles it down the toilet just so they’ll get re-elected?

At least we know now what a seat in the Legislature costs.

Assuming the $180 million cancellation cost ensured the re-election of Liberal stalwarts Charles Sousa (Mississauga South), Laurel Broten (Etobicoke Lakeshore) and Donna Cansfield (Etobicoke Centre), we can assume a seat is worth $60 million each.

Throw in Bob Delaney (Mississauga-Streetsville) and Amrit Mangat (Mississauga-Brampton South) and you bring the per-seat price down to a more affordable $36 million.

Any way you look at it, taxpayers got hosed, voters got bamboozled – and a vast amount of money that could have been used for healthcare got wasted.

NDP energy critic Peter Tabuns wasn’t over the top Tuesday, he was simply stating facts, when he called it scandalous. (Source: Canoe.ca)