Ontario’s New Democrats poured cold water Wednesday on efforts by the Progressive Conservatives to force a snap election over the $1.1-billion the Liberal government spent to cancel gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga.
The Liberals killed the gas plants to hang on to power in the 2011 election, and should be defeated in a non-confidence motion as quickly as possible, said Opposition Leader Tim Hudak.
“They have no moral authority to govern this province when they’re willing to use whatever it takes, $1.1-billion, to save a handful of Liberal seats,” he said.
Former premier Dalton McGuinty didn’t offer any apologies Wednesday when asked about the $1.1-billion cost of his decisions to scrap the gas plants.
“I regret the fact that it has cost so much,” McGuinty told reporters in Elliot Lake, Ont., where he was testifying at the inquiry into the deadly collapse of the local shopping mall.
“I regret the fact that we hadn’t acted sooner as a government, but it was right to relocate those plants.”
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath accused Hudak of “playing games” because the governing Liberals determine which bills and motions get called to the legislature for a vote.
“I think it’s pretty clear that there’s nothing that can be done at this point to force an election unless the Liberals call it themselves,” said Horwath. “So Mr. Hudak can stand on his head and spit nickels, but it’s not going to create an election in Ontario.”
But Hudak said the minority Liberal government would have a hard time ignoring the will of both opposition parties.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/09/ontario-ndp-pour-cold-water-on-tory-efforts-to-force-electio...
