As noted in Gas Busters Part 23, I have been using Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to pursue government documents from 2012 regarding the gas scandal. The motion at the Estimates Committee seeking disclosure specified documents from 2010 and 2011 only. As noted in Gas Busters Part 29, I have been using the appeal process through the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s office to pursue what might be described as the vapid response from the Premier’s Office attached in Part 23.
Attached is one result of that appeal process so far. In it, Cabinet Office discloses new material from the Government House Leader’s office. Part 42 will provide additional results from the appeal process.
The first page after the cover letter contains a list of new documents, most of which I believe are previously undisclosed. Some of the documents referred to appear to set out major new information.
There is an indication that a representative of a Minister was seeking information from the Ministry of Energy about the cost of cancelling Greenfield South (Mississauga power plant) during the election campaign. What makes this information interesting is that it is the first indication I can think of in the evidence so far that suggests there might have been some modicum of consideration of the cost implications of the GS cancelation during the heat of the election campaign.
There is also evidence of Ministry of Energy officials working to come up with messaging to respond to questions from John Spears of the Toronto Star regarding previous statements from the OPA identifying the output of the Greenfield South station as valuable for power system reliability.
On the list of documents is reference to an email exchange between Ministry of Energy officials mocking McGuinty’s claim that the cancellation had nothing to do with getting votes. I believe that this exchange is already available in the Gas Busters archive.