Affect of the Gas Plant Scandal on Local Voters

Days before Ontarians set out to enjoy a long Thanksgiving weekend, the province’s Auditor General, Bonnie Lysyk, released her long awaited report regarding the cancellation and relocation of two infamous gas plants.  Initial estimates provided by our former Premier, Dalton McGuinty, placed the cost of the project around $40-million, while this figure later soared to over $675-million, resulting in McGuinty’s resignation and a surprise prorogation.  Lysyk’s report corrected these underestimates, placing the cost at a staggering $1.1 billion, and it cautiously suggests that taxpayers could be on the hook for as much as $1.5-billion when it’s all said and done.  This news set off a new wave of calls for a provincial election, while leaders of minority parties were quick to chime in:

“Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals should step aside now and call an election. Let people cast judgment on this government. I mean, enough is enough”.  – Tim Hudak, Leader of the Conservative Party of Ontario

“It’s taken some time but the answers are finally out there and everybody knows not only what the price tag was but the fact it was politically driven decisions that actually ratcheted the price tag up instead of managing it down”. – Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party

In spite of the banter, Ontario is arguably not one step closer to an election today than we were last week.  Nevertheless, a provincial election will come sooner or later, which begs the question: how will the scandalous gas plant issue affect local voters?  Kingston and the Islands has been a provincial Liberal stronghold for 5 consecutive terms, while the local MPP race hasn’t been remotely close the last 4 times voters took to the polls.  Should our longstanding MPP, John Gerretsen decide to run again, will his resoundingly strong base subside as a result of mistakes previous made by McGuinty and his successor, Premier Wynne?  Accordingly, this week’s poll asks:

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