Tories will move forward with confidence motion: Hudak

The Progressive Conservatives (PCs) will push for a confidence vote on two cancelled GTA gas plants, saying the high cost of scrapping the plants is reason enough for a provincial election.

“We’re moving forward with a motion in the House of Commons,” PC Leader Tim Hudak said at Queen’s Park on Monday.

“What’s the cost of leaving the Liberals in charge for even one more day if they’re willing to waste up to $1 billion to cancel gas plants and save Liberal seats,” he said.

However, the minority Liberals would first have to allow the vote to proceed.

The Tories are expected to pressure Premier Kathleen Wynne and her party to give the green light on the motion through tactics inside and outside of Queen’s Park.

Hudak said if Wynne was “new and different” from former premier Dalton McGuinty, there would be a vote and a debate.

Wynne said Monday there was already an opportunity for a confidence motion on Thursday, when the provincial budget in introduced.

“The Opposition parties will have the chance to express their confidence in the government – or not – come the budget,” she said at Queen’s Park.

It’s the party’s first budget under Wynne.

The Ontario Liberals shuttered plants in Mississauga and Oakville, a move that the Opposition say cost the province at least $1 billion.

Cancelling the Mississauga gas plant alone cost $275 million, according to a report from the auditor general, $85 million more than the Liberals indicated. It happened days before the 2011 provincial election.

A report on the cost of the Oakville plant cancellation isn’t expected until August. While the Liberals had said that decision cost taxpayers about $40 million, Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli acknowledged last month that figure likely isn’t accurate.

Wynne is already scheduled to take the stand before the legislature’s justice committee on the issue this week.

The committee, which has been tasked with examining a contempt motion against the Liberals, meets Tuesday and Thursday.

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