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Under the government of Ms. Wynne, the Liberals’ preferred method of defence — their only defence, really, since the Premier has admitted that the cancellations were political in nature and has said repeatedly that she wishes the whole thing was handled differently — has been to try to rationalize the mistakes away by arguing that the two opposition parties were prepared to make them too.
This argument, though, sidesteps the fact that the government of the day has to take responsibility for its decisions, and it was the Liberal government that decided to site the plants in Oakville and Mississauga, that signed contracts with developers, and that decided to scrap both of them, at a time when all the leverage was with the private power companies, at a cost of what could end up being more than $1-billion. Make no mistake here: It was the Liberals that wanted to take credit for the cancellations, as was evident by the celebratory announcements that took place each time. It was only when things went sour did the government try to make the PCs and NDP equal partners in the decision to scrap the plants.
No, this scandal is the Liberals’ to wear alone. With the final bill now in, it’s all the more evident why Mr. McGuinty decided to quit a year ago next week. He knew this was coming. He had many reasons to run. |
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