McGuinty faces email questions Tuesday
Former Ontario premier dalton McGuinty will face some tough Opposition questions on the mass destruction of government emails when he returns Tuesday to testify at legislative committee hearings into cancelled gas plants.
“This is a chance for some real answers from dalton McGuinty,” New democrat Jonah Schein told reporters as he listed a series of questions the party plans to ask.
“Why did the premier’s office destroy emails? What were the Liberals trying to cover up? When did Kathleen Wynne ask dalton McGuinty about missing emails? Will the Liberals take responsibility for destroying key information about the gas plants, or will they continue blaming staff ?”
Mr. McGuinty testified last month that he made the decisions to cancel gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga, which will cost at least $585-million, far above the $230-million he and the Liberals had originally claimed.
However, after his testimony, privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian reported that top Liberals in Mr. McGuinty’s office had deleted emails on the gas plants. The Ontario Provincial Police launched a criminal investigation earlier this month after complaints by the Progressive Conservatives about the destruction of emails by senior Liberal staff.
“I believe this is an orchestrated coverup from square one” said PC Leader Tim Hudak, adding that Mr. McGuinty should take advantage of his second chance Tuesday to set the record straight.
“I hope that he’ll use this second opportunity to take a different course than the first. I hope he’ll be honest with taxpayers and tell us what really happened,” he said.
Ms. Cavoukian will also appear at the gas plant hearings.