Liberals rebuff budget watchdog sniffing into Hydro One sell-off
Grits clearly hold low opinion of fledgling office, critics say
Ontario budget watchdog Stephen LeClair is being “stonewalled” by the Liberal government after less than just four months on the job, critics say.
While looking into the Grits’ plan to partially sell Hydro One for an estimated $9 billion — his first official probe as the fledgling Financial Accountability Officer (FAO) — LeClair has been told by senior bureaucrats that details of the controversial deal fall under cabinet secrecy.
“We are examining the sale of Hydro One and its impact on the government’s fiscal plan,” LeClair told the Star Wednesday, noting that his request went on May 15 and the response arrived in his office on June 1.
That businesslike letter reminded LeClair, an independent officer of the legislature, his investigative powers are limited under Section12 (2) of the Financial Accountability Officer Act, 2013.
“Because much of the requested information . . . would disclose advice, analysis and recommendations prepared for the consideration of the Treasury Board and cabinet, (the act) will limit the material that we will be able to provide in response to your request,” said the letter signed by Scott Thompson and Serge Imbrogno, deputy ministers of finance and energy respectively.
A followup letter confirmed the government’s position that it would be refusing to co-operate.
Critics say it is clear the Liberal government doesn’t put much stock in the FAO — modelled after the Parliamentary Budget Office — given that it was effectively forced on the then-minority Liberal government in order to get NDP support for the 2013 budget.
Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said LeClair “is being stonewalled” in the very infancy of the office.
“It’s very disappointing because you would have hoped he would have been given oversight. I am really concerned we are not going to see the proper valuation (of the sale) . . . I believe they have something to hide,” Brown said. New Democrat MPP Catherine Fife says Ontarians have the right to know every nuance of the proposed Hydro One deal because it’s a publicly owned asset.
“We have heard a lot of things from this premier (Kathleen Wynne) about being open and transparent . . . but obstructing the FAO falls outside that description,” she said.
LeClair, a career bureaucrat with experience in Ontario, the Yukon and Alberta, said his office across from Queen’s Park won’t be deterred, adding it just makes his job a little harder.
“We will continue forward with our report . . . and then it is up to parliamentarians to decide. We ask for the information to do the best work pos- sible,” said LeClair, who hopes his legacy will be making government more transparent.
A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Charles Sousa said LeClair can question any ministry or government agency but “there is an exception made to cabinet records.”
“We are looking forward to working with their office and will do so in a way that is in line with the outlines in the act . . . It should be noted that we are the first province in all of Canada to set this office up,” Kelsey Ingram said.
Opposition parties have decried Wynne’s majority government’s decision to gradually sell off 60 per cent of Hydro One to help balance the books by 2017-18.
The deal was sealed when the Grits used their majority to pass the budget last month despite pleas from the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats to separate the Hydro One sale from the omnibus budget bill. That deal, when completed, will end public scrutiny of the operation.
In a rare show of force, eight independent officers of the legislature — including LeClair — signed a statement calling Wynne to reverse plans to “significantly reduce” their oversight powers over the Crown utility.
Among other things, LeClair’s office is following up a request from Tory MPP Vic Fedeli with respect to the Liberal government’s commitment to balance the province’s books by 2017-18. The province has an $8.5billion deficit.
“I am not going criticize the government” but rather he’ll simply state when he thinks it will be balanced and “people can make their own judgments on that.”