[Ontario Premier] Wynne, McGuinty full of … gas – (Toronto Sun Editorial – May 9, 2013)

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Premier Kathleen Wynne and past premier Dalton McGuinty were so full of it in their testimony about the Liberals’ gas plant fiasco, that some final observations on their absurd arguments are warranted.

First was Wynne’s statement the government needs to develop better ways of listening to communities when it comes to locating gas plants, and McGuinty’s claim he cancelled the Oakville and Mississauga plants because he listened to local health and safety concerns.

In the real world, if McGuinty and Wynne gave a fig about community concerns, they wouldn’t have rammed industrial wind turbines down the throats of rural Ontarians, while taking away the rights of local municipalities to have any say on the issue.

McGuinty’s hypocrisy is particularly astounding, given that he called anyone who objected to industrial wind turbines a “nimby”, unless they were doing so for legitimate safety and environmental reasons, all of which his government rejected as invalid.

In fact, people claiming adverse health symptoms caused by noise and low-level vibrations from wind turbines were told by the Liberal government they were the only ones complaining, when in actuality hundreds of complaints were pouring in from across the province.

As for McGuinty’s claim he stopped the Oakville and Mississauga plants in part because he was concerned about asthmatic children, this is more specious nonsense.

If McGuinty really cared about asthmatic children, he would have put scrubbers on Ontario’s coal-fired electricity plants during all the years he was breaking his 2003 election promise to close them by 2007, which the Liberals still haven’t fully delivered.

Coal plants are far worse than natural gas plants when it comes to emitting pollution.

Further, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has said the gas plants wouldn’t have had any negative health impacts on local residents.

The truth is the Liberals cancelled the two gas plants — at a cost to the public of at least $585 million, instead of the $230 million they claimed — for one crass, political, reason. It was to save their political hides in the 2011 election, since they would otherwise have lost several Liberal seats due to local anger over the Oakville and Mississauga plants.

Continuing to insist otherwise simply shows the Liberals’ continuing contempt for the public.

For the original version, click here: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/05/09/wynne-mcguinty-full-of–gas