Former Onatrio Premier Dalton McGuinty testified before the gas plant legislative committee at Queen’s Park this morning, taking full responsibility on behalf of his government for the possible $585 million cost of relocating the planned Oakville and Mississauga gas plants. McGuinty, however, defended the decision claiming: “We were faced with a circumstance where gas plants were sited right next to schools, condominium towers, family homes and a hospital. That wasn’t right.”

McGuinty denied knowing about the rising cost of the relocation, stating that he “did not have at [his] hand the costs associated with that.” McGuinty continued: “In my office, we don’t have the capacity to make calculations associated with these kinds of contractual arrangements, or to make these kinds of estimates as to what the ultimate costs might be.”

Conservative energy critic Vic Fedeli slammed the shady testimony, noting, “While you may have masterminded the heist, your henchemen committed the crime and drove the getaway car,” coming on the heels of accusations that McGuinty’s office had acted on their own without the former Premier’s knowledge. Conservative MPP John Yakabuski also poked holes in McGuinty’s environmental reasoning for moving the plants, stating that any potential environmental issues would have been known when the site was initially evaluated. 

NDP MPPs Peter Tabuns and Tara Natyshak also criticized McGuinty, questioning his supposedly altruistic motives when he allowed equally unpopular projects to continue in opposition-held ridings. 

Outside of the hearing, Fedeli maintained that it was “implausible” for the McGuinty to have not known about the rising costs, despite being widely advised against the decision. The Nipissing MP also reiterated Conservative and NDP criticisms that Premier Kathleen Wynne was not “forthcoming” during her own testimony last week. Wynne denied her involvement in the decision, but maintained that it earlier this week acknowledged it as a “political decision” made to appease local opposition during the 2011 provincial election.  

“Sometimes doing the right thing can be controversial,” McGuinty later said. 

When asked by reporters if a resignation was imminent, McGuinty maintained that he will continue as the Ottawa South MPP until the next provincial election, assuaging our fears that he would pull the same stunt as last time. 

[via CBC, National Post, and the Globe & Mail]

____

Vidal Wu is a Toronto Standard intern. You can follow him on Twitter at @vidalwuu.

For more, follow us on Twitter at @TorontoStandard, and subscribe to our newsletter.