The people of Ontario want an election; the premier is afraid to call one

"So what do you want from me, an election? I said I was sorry."

To save five Liberal seats in the last provincial election, the Liberals cancelled the construction of two gas-fired power plants. The people in the five ridings closest to the new gas plants were extremely unhappy about hosting them in their backyards. 

It didn't occur to the Liberals to consider this before beginning work on the plants. They didn't really think about it until the 2011 election when they realized they might lose the vote in those five ridings. 

Whoops! Time to relocate both power plants at a cost of about $1 billion. Or about $200 million per threatened Liberal seat. 

The premier has apologized for forcing us to make such a huge involuntary contribution to the Liberal election fund. But has she in any way tried to make restitution? Even symbolically - because obviously the Liberal party doesn't have a billion dollars and so cannot repay us.

The premier says she takes responsibility. Really? In government, a minister takes responsibility for gross misuse of public funds by resigning. Obviously the premier has not resigned. 

The premier hasn't been elected, either. Kathleen Wynne has never faced the people of Ontario and asked for a mandate. For obvious reasons, she's scared to do so now. So she sits as the unelected premier of Ontario, afraid to take responsibility and terrified to see if the people have accepted her empty apology. 

From Global News and the Toronto Sun...

TORONTO – Half of Ontarians want to go to the polls after an auditor general report revealed the billion-dollar bill of the cancelled gas plants according to a new survey released by Forum Research.

The poll asked 1,049 Ontario voters their feelings on the fallout of the cancelled gas plants in Mississauga and Oakville.

-         - 51 per cent of those surveyed think an election should be called

-         - 41 per cent don’t think an election should be held on the issue

-         - 8 per cent don’t have an opinion

One-quarter of Ontarians polled would prefer that the gas plant controversy continue to be explored through a government committee, while another 25% would just like to see the matter dropped entirely.

The Mississauga and Oakville gas plants were cancelled by the Liberal government ahead of the 2011 general election.

Two auditor general reports since has revealed the cost of the cancellations could be upwards of $1.1 billion; $275 million for the Mississauga plant and between $675 and $810 million for the Oakville plant.

The survey also suggests 4 in 10 voters believe a crime was committed – though no charges have been laid in an ongoing OPP investigation.

The poll surveyed 1,049 randomly selected Ontarians aged 18 or older between October 23 and 25. The results are considered accurate plus/minus 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.