Liberals Flip-Flop on Winter Road Maintenance Equipment

QUEEN’S PARK – Today during Question Period, Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown asked the Premier to clarify the miscommunication coming from the Ministry of Transportation surrounding the purchasing of snow plow equipment.

“Since the Auditor General’s report about the Winter Road Maintenance Contracts, the government has done nothing but brag about buying new equipment to prop up the failed agreements,” said Leader Patrick Brown. “Yet yesterday his Press Secretary said the province never purchased any equipment for the road maintenance contractors.”

The Auditor General’s report found the total cost of the additional equipment purchased to be $15 million a year. In one particular contract the Auditor General showed how the government paid $1.7 million to buy 13 pieces of equipment on a contract valued at $700,000.

“We’ve now learned that four similar winter road maintenance contracts have failed. So the government spins this by denying they bought any new equipment; but they say they gave money to these companies to buy new plows,” added Brown.

It is concerning that between the Minister and his staff no one can seem to agree upon who owns the equipment that Ontario taxpayers paid $15 million for.

“The government needs to get its story straight and justify why Ontarians paid $15 million to buy these contractors snow clearing equipment. Will the Minister clarify; did the government pay for the sanders and plows?”