No intention to hide documents, inquiry told
A former Liberal political staffer turned bureaucrat denies ordering the Ontario Power Authority to withhold documents from MPPs probing the controversial cancellations of power plants in Oakville and Mississauga.
The testimony from Ministry of Energy employee Jesse Kulendran in the legislature’s justice committee Thursday contradicts an Oct. 3, 2012 memo from the OPA’s vicepresident, Kristin Jenkins.
“Are you saying that she’s lying, that she’s putting forward a false statement in this email?” New Democrat MPP Peter Tabuns asked Kulendran during a hearing that saw fireworks erupt at one point.
The NDP and Progressive Conservatives contend there was political interference in delaying the release of papers they sought to shed light on the cost of scrapping the plants, which the government has said was $230 million but some critics say is closer to $1 billion.
Premier Kathleen Wynne has admitted the cancellations were “politically motivated.”
“I am not sure why Ms. Jenkins characterized the meeting as she did. I am saying that I did not provide direction to the OPA,” Kulendran said. “This is not about my political experience in the past . . . I did not direct the OPA to exclude documents. I do not have the authority . . . I acted in good faith.”
In the memo dated Oct. 3, 2012, to OPA chief executive Colin Andersen, Jenkins wrote: “Not only is it apparent from the Post-It notes that Jesse directed the OPA to exclude attachments where the correspondence itself was not response (to the MPPs request on behalf of a legislative committee), it is also clear that Jesse directed us to exclude SWGTA. I have the documents and can show them to you.” Jenkins, a former New Democrat staffer at Queen’s Park whose reference was to the southwest Greater Toronto Area, has not yet been called to testify. Kulendran said she was called to a meeting with Jenkins to advise the OPA on which of a box half-full of documents were subject to the committee’s request. “It was their obligation to . . . make the decisions.”