Former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty’s chief of staff Sentenced

Apr 11, 2018 @ 12:07

Former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty’s chief of staff, David Livingston has been sentenced to four months in jail, one year of probation and 100 hours of community service for his role in the gas-plant scandal. Ontario court Judge Timothy Lipson who heard the case commented that Livingston’s illegal destruction of emails related to the cancellation of two Ontario gas plants had struck at the core of the democratic process.

Ontario PC Finance Critic Vic Fedeli commented on the sentencing, “Over the last 15 years there has been a pattern of political corruption in this Liberal government. They consistently put their political self-interests and their insider friends ahead of the hard-working Ontario taxpayer. It’s upsetting and angering when a senior operative in the Premier’s office is brought before the courts, and sentenced to four months in prison.”

He continued by saying, “Struggling Ontario taxpayers have waited seven long years for answers on how $1.1 billion of their hard-earned money could be wasted to save a few seats in an election. Today the Ontario justice system will run its course, but no sentence is going to return the money that was thrown away. With the gas plants’ court case coming to a close, we are worried about the waste and political corruption the next Liberal scandal will reveal.”

 

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said, “The jail sentence handed down to David Livingston today following his conviction will not bring back the more than $1 billion in public money the Liberals blew to protect their seats ahead of an election, but it does recognize the severity of the Liberal attempt to cover up the gas plant scandal. These public resources should have been used for the public good, like helping to fix the hospital overcrowding crisis, rather than being wasted by the Liberals in a selfish attempt to score political points. It doesn’t have to be this way. Ontarians can stop settling for Liberals and Conservatives who put their own needs ahead of the public. Ontarians can choose a premier that will invest in the services that matter to families, and bring change for the better.”