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“In 2010 and 2011 the Government of Ontario listened to the concerns of residents in Oakville and Mississauga and announced the relocation of two power plants, a decision that all three recognized parties in the Legislature supported,” the report begins. Those are the first words, right after the table of contents and list of abbreviations.

Yes, look, OK, the cost of doing that, whatever it might have been (as much as $1.1 billion, if you listen to the auditor general), was “unacceptably high,” but it all came from deep respect for the people of Ontario. Love, dare we say it.

Once the decision was made to cancel the plants — one of which was under construction already — the Liberals did the only thing any reasonable people would: They negotiated due compensation for the builders. You wouldn’t expect them to just tear the contracts up, would you? There would have been lawsuits. By settling with those builders, TransCanada and Greenfield, the government was protecting taxpayers.

Now, yes, perhaps some other things went badly. If Ontario had had a better system for deciding where power plants go, maybe the Oakville and Mississauga sites wouldn’t have been chosen. Speaking of which, you know who needs to step up and take some blame for that? Bloody Oakville and Mississauga.

“In Oakville, citizens objected to plans for a new electricity generation plant, however, there was no plan in the City to consider the energy needs of a growing community,” the committee report says. “In Mississauga, official plans in 2004 made specific reference to ‘power generation’ as an allowable use of certain lands. However, it seems that consideration had not been given to the implications of developers relying on those designations in particular places. … It is up to municipalities to manage their land uses, as only they can.”