The ex-politician at the centre of Ontario’s gas plant scandal isn’t talking, yet.

And he may never, unless an Ontario legislature committee demands it.

Former Ontario energy minister Chris Bentley, who took the heat for his party’s controversial gas plant decisions, declined several times Monday to talk about the auditor’s report into the cost of those decisions.

“It would not be appropriate for me to comment,” the former London West MPP said.

The legislature’s justice committee is still holding hearings on the gas plant costs, he said.

Bentley’s silence should come as no surprise, because he could very well be called before the justice committee hearings, political scientist Peter Woolstencroft of the University of Waterloo said.

“They can call anybody but God,” Woolstencroft said. “He (Bentley) doesn’t want to say anything to you because he doesn’t want to have to explain (to the committee) what he said.”

Bentley’s Liberal connections might still matter to him and his future, Woolstencroft added.

“I don’t think he’s a happy camper, but I don’t think he’s a bridge burner.”

Bentley announced last fall he was leaving provincial politics, after spending months as the fall guy for the Liberals’ decision to quietly kill two Toronto-area gas plants just before the 2011 election. Bentley resigned his seat in February.

In a report released Monday, Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter said the total cost of cancelling the Mississauga gas plant is $275 million, not $190 million as the government previously claimed.

The biggest hit was the $149.6 million paid by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) to the project’s lender which included $90 million in related fees and interest.

The auditor’s report could bring Bentley in front of the justice committee, said New Democrat energy critic and committee member Peter Tabuns.

“The fact the Liberals are saying the OPA knew that it cost a lot more and we didn’t is quite a shocker because I don’t believe that. I don’t believe the OPA was holding information from a minister or a premier about a $100 million difference from what they were saying publicly and what the OPA believed to be true.”

By the time there was a decision on the settlment, Bentley was energy minister, Tabuns said.

“Chris Bentley was around for that. We may well (call him). Certainly, he is not ruled out as a witness.”