Gas Busters Part 34: Witness Line-up for Justice Policy Committee (April 9)

8:30 am Frank Clegg
3:00 pm Craig MacLennan followed by Serge Imbrogno

Please feel free to post the question here that you want answers to.

4 Comments

  1. Very simple, to Craig:

    1. How many blackberries did you carry with you at all times when you were Chief of Staff to Duguid? (Answer, 2. One government of Ontario “FOIable blackberry” and one “personal”, GMail/personal blackberry where all actual, real, political emails were sent. Not FOIable. Pretty much every Chief of Staff had 2 blackberries by 2010. You see where this is going).

    2. Demand full access to all emails on Craig’s non-FOIable blackberry that he was using while he was doing his job as Chief of Staff to Duguid (including the ability to retrieve deleted emails)? Now, they’ve all been deleted which is where…

    Ask that and see where it goes. Or not if he lies under oath.

    Ask about his OLG soft landing for laughs if you want but that has nothing to do with the issue (though for those of us paying massive power bills his 100K+ salary given the damage Craig personally caused is a bit much. In my 20+ years doing this Craig was by far the worst political staffer I ever saw. I’m not sure who’s second. Hope he has a bad day tomorrow).

  2. Proposed questions keep pouring in:

    How did the Government determine that the settlements reached with TransCanada and Eastern were in the best interests of ratepayers and taxpayers? Where is the documentation of the analysis for that determination?

    Why didn’t Minister Bentley provide the Estimates Committee with the requested documents on a confidential basis, if he was worried about commercial sensititivies?

    Did any discussions between political or ministry staff take place with Eastern Power during the election (i.e., when no government was sitting)?

    When was OPA first informed of Mississauga cancellation? By whom?

    What formal direction did the Government give to the OPA to relocate/cancel the Mississauga plant? When was this direction given? Where is the documentation?

    How many settlement offers were rejected by TransCanada? What were the offers? Why did TransCanada reject them?

    The whole transmission versus generation solution inconsistency needs investigation too:

    When cancelling the Oakville plant in 2012, the Government stated that “When the need for this plant was first identified four years ago, there were higher demand projections for electricity in the area. Since then changes in demand and supply – including more than 8,000 megawatts of new, cleaner power and successful conservation efforts – have made it clear that this proposed natural gas plant is no longer required. A transmission solution can ensure that the growing region will have enough electricity to meet future needs of homes, hospitals, schools and businesses.” See: http://news.ontario.ca/mei/en/2010/10/oakville-power-plant-not-moving-forward.html

    However, OPA said in IPSP “Transmission generally has more significant effects on land use and communities, and typically engenders more community opposition than local generation solutions. For this reason, the local generation option is deemed more preferable from a societal acceptance perspective.” See page 16 from this piece on the SWGTA from the IPSP: http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/sites/default/files/page/4881_E-5-3_corrected_071019.pdf

    OPA also said: “If a plant were located outside the southwest GTA, the local transmission infrastructure upgrades costs would increase by about $200 million and require intrusions into highly urbanized centres.” see: http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/news/southwest-gta-replacement-power-plant-backgrounder

  3. More:

    Was Craig MacLennan warned by senior OPA staff prior to the cancelation of Greenfield South that due to the fact that construction had already began and the involvement of secured third party financing (EIG) that relocating the plant would impose significant financial penalties on the public?

    What legal authority did the Minister have to order the OPA to rip up contracts?

    What was the role of the OPA board in deciding to rip up the contracts?

    Was Rob Prichard brought in by the Premier’s Office to close the Eastern Power (Greenfield South) relocation/compensation deal?

    Did Mr. Prichard report to the government through Mr. Imbrogno?

    How much did Mr. Prichard get paid?

    Why did Mr. Prichard agree to the $45 million interest-free loan with Eastern? Was that loan part of a package to provide Mr. Bentley with the feel good announcement that a deal had been settled in time for his appearance at the Estimates Committee in July?

    With the $45 million interest-free loan to Eastern, is that from the OPA or the government? Who is it that is an involuntary investor, ratepayers or taxpayers?

    Didn’t the presence of EIG provide an opportunity to exit from the Eastern contract without a big payout and a big public investment in keeping Eastern in business?

    Why exactly did consumers have to pay Eastern $10 million to settle the Keele Valley litigation between Eastern and the successor of the former Ontario Hydro?

  4. For the Deputy Minister:

    Regarding the October 2012 gas plant document disclosure, when did the OPA first inform the Ministry that they had found and would be disclosing additional documents? Is there supporting documentation?

    Regarding the Februrary 2013 gas plant document disclosure, when did the OPA first inform the Ministry that they had found and would be disclosing additional documents? Is there supporting documentation?

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