Just another Big Whopper

By CHRISTINA BLIZZARD
TORONTO SUN

Good morning, jaded voters. Welcome to Ontario --home of the Big Whopper.

Or, in this case, Big Whoppers. Talk about pants on fire.

Yep, those promise-breaking Fiberals smashed another election promise yesterday. And size really does matter when it comes to Pinocchio pledges.

This was a really big part of the Liberal platform. The solemn vow to shut the province's five coal-fired electricity generating plants was one of the jewels in the crown of their election platform.

Turns out that like so many other hollow promises, this gem was just a fake. Just like the pledge not to hike taxes. And the one to balance the budget. And the one to roll back tolls on Hwy. 407. And the one to stop development on the Oak Ridges Moraine. And the one to provide autism treatment for children older than 6.

The list goes on and on. And on. In fact, the Tories calculated yesterday that Premier Dalton McGuinty is breaking one promise every 12 days -- based on 50 broken promises in 601 days since they were sworn in.

It's funny how the Liberals are starting to sound just like the Tories in the last election. Former premier Ernie Eves wouldn't commit to closing the coal-fired plants earlier because it was an irresponsible pledge.

Guess it never occurred to the Liberals back then that, stinky as those coal-fired plants are, they provide the juice that's the life-blood of industry here. Shut them down and it's lights out.

The problem is the Nanticoke plant on Lake Erie. While critics point to it as the biggest source of pollution in the area, what they don't tell you is that it is also the biggest source of electricity in the region as well.

"We are delivering (on the promise)," Energy Minister Dwight Duncan insisted yesterday. "We are missing our deadline by a few months and we are doing it in what we believe is a prudent and responsible fashion."

A few months? Make that 24, by the time the plant is fully shut down. And it takes the Libs to a date conveniently beyond the next election -- and hopefully by then we'll all have forgotten about those pesky plants.

It's no wonder voters are cynical. Anyone can get elected on a fantasy election platform they have no intention of delivering.

What do you think McGuinty will run on next time? A promise to fix the hole in the ozone layer and male pattern baldness? Can't be done, you say? Perhaps not. But these guys are Liberals. Just watch. All those suckers who voted for them last time around will believe the patter one more time -- and send them back to Queen's Park.

The Liberal spin doctors were in overdrive on this one.

"People said we couldn't close Lakeview," Duncan said yesterday. Actually, it was the Tories who made the decision to close the old plant in Etobicoke. All the Libs had to do was show up and take credit.

Asked when he first realized he wouldn't be able to close Nanticoke, Duncan just about cracked up the room with a reply that he must have had a tough time delivering with a straight face.

"We probably knew for certain about late last week given all the alternatives we had looked at," he said. "We got it out as soon as the final decision was made."

Oh, come on, Dwight, nice try. The Liberals were warned they wouldn't be able to do this the day after they made their pre-election pledge. Now they say they can't do it?

Next election, when the Grits come up with another Pinocchio platform, voters should demand more steak and less sizzle.

And tell those Fiberals loud and clear just where they can stuff their whoppers.