By the count of an outraged opposition, the Liberal government is now on its fifth Ontario Provincial Police investigation, the latest being a criminal probe that follows allegations of evidence-destruction in an ongoing lawsuit against the province.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown kicked off Wednesday’s rowdy question period by asking about the newest investigation – although he had just begun to speak when Ottawa-area PC MPP Lisa MacLeod yelled “come out with your hands up” at the Liberal side of the legislature. Speaker Dave Levac immediately issued a warning to MacLeod.

And thus the tone was set.

The Ontario Provincial Police said Tuesday that they recently began a criminal investigation after hearing allegations against the government made by Toronto-based Trillium Power Wind Corp., which has claimed the McGuinty-era Liberal regime destroyed or concealed evidence that is crucial to a continuing lawsuit. The company says this happened around the same time as the alleged deletion of documents connected to the cancelled gas plants scandal.

That lawsuit also accuses the Liberal government’s moratorium on offshore wind power projects – announced in February, 2011 – was intended to waylay Trillium and its plans for a development in Lake Ontario near Kingston. The OPP said it is looking into a "proposed transaction with the government of Ontario" and "allegations of wrongdoing involving a proposal to supply wind energy from turbines that would be situated in the eastern portion of Lake Ontario."

The government has denied the lawsuit's claims, which haven’t been tried in court. The case had been struck down by a lower-court judge, but was revived by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2013. The court allowed Trillium to go forward with a narrower, $500 million lawsuit for misfeasance in public office, alleging that the moratorium on offshore wind was designed to hurt the company.

Brown eventually asked Premier Kathleen Wynne if she could confirm the government was under a fifth OPP investigation. Those presumably include the Trillium complaint; alleged document-deletion tied to the cancelled gas plants scandal; the Sudbury byelection imbroglio (and the criminal charges against a Liberal fundraiser that were recently stayed); and accusations of fraud involving air-ambulance provider Ornge.

But the government says it was unaware of the new investigation, other than what it had read in the press (QP Briefing included).

“If we are contacted, we will, as always, co-operate fully with authorities,” Wynne said. “We’re taking a cautious and a responsible approach to offshore wind to allow for the development of research and co-ordination.”

After an answer from Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli that cited a sunny section of a report from the Information and Privacy Commissioner, Brown accused the government of trying to “muddy the waters.” He then started in with some more pointed questions.

“We know the Premier signed the deal to cancel the gas plants in order to save the seat of the finance minister, but the question is, why did the Liberal cabinet cancel the offshore wind project?” he asked. “Is it because the current economic development minister was worried about the planned offshore wind project at the Scarborough Bluffs? Was it to save the Liberal seat in Kingston? Or was it because Trillium never donated to the Ontario Liberal Party?”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, meanwhile, called on Wynne to call a commission of inquiry into the government’s handling of energy sector contracts. “It’s alleged they destroyed energy-related documents, again.”

Chiarelli reiterated the government’s “cautious and responsible approach” to the legislature. A statement from the minister’s spokesperson noted that the government has instituted new rules for recordkeeping and staff training since Wynne took power.

Later, to reporters, Chiarelli said he wouldn’t speak to specifics about the Trillium lawsuit. The Energy Minister also said the ban on offshore wind power was “still under review.” But the Liberal government is also beginning consultations on its long-term energy plan this year, and Chiarelli told reporters the government was “open” to offshore wind being raised in those discussions.

To contact the reporter on this story:
gzochodne@qpbriefing.com
416-212-5913
Twitter: @geoffzochodne

Opposition blows up over another OPP investigation of Liberal government

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