The defeated Liberal government ignored numerous warnings from top civil servants that its scheme to borrow billions to lower electricity prices a full 25 per cent was a “bad idea,” says the former deputy minister of energy.
Serge Imbrogno told a legislative committee Tuesday bureaucrats were asked for options to further reduce hydro rates by former premier Kathleen Wynne’s government in 2016 after waiving the 8 per cent HST on hydro bills, but the financing plan came out of the blue from the office of then-energy minister Glenn Thibeault.
Both Imbrogno and cabinet secretary Steve Orsini — who also headed the civil service under Wynne — testified they repeatedly expressed worries about the feasibility of the scheme to the Liberals, including in briefing notes to cabinet warning of higher costs and accounting issues later red-flagged by Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk.
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