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More than four years in the making and much anticipated by political foes of the Ontario Liberal government, the so-called “gas plant” trial got off to a creaky start Monday.

Two former senior aides to then-premier Dalton McGuinty, David Livingston and Laura Miller, are each pleading not guilty to breach of trust, mischief and unauthorized use of a computer, all in relation to the alleged destruction of documents central to the Liberals’ decision in 2011 to cancel two gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga.

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As compared to another trial involving provincial Liberals that started last week, the Elections Act violations case in Sudbury, this one, as a criminal trial being heard at Old City Hall in Toronto, is the more serious.

The two gas plants were re-contracted and relocated at an estimated cost that could hit $1 billion. The decision wasn’t just enormously expensive, but also controversial, and though McGuinty and the Liberals were narrowly re-elected, the lasting political fallout and government stalling to produce documents saw two Conservative MPPs finally make a formal complaint to the OPP in 2013.