Big gig for Liberal pal

Ontario hires Chretien cronies for hydro inquiry

Toronto Sun - March 5, 2004
by Christina Blizzard

A top aide to former prime minister Jean Chretien has landed a $175-an-hour contract with the review committee looking into mismanagement at the trouble-plagued Ontario Power Generation. Long-time Liberal strategist Peter Donolo, who served as Chretien's director of communications from 1993-99, has provided "roughly" $6,500 worth of work since his company, won a contract on Feb. 5.

"Strategic Counsel, which includes their executive vice president, Peter Donolo, has been contracted to support the OPG review committee," Craig Fowler, OPG review secretariat spokesman, said yesterday.

The committee is chaired by Chretien's former deputy prime minister, John Manley.

Fowler said the contract was awarded through a "competitive process" and that Donolo is under contract for the duration of the review committee's work. The committee is expected to report to provincial Energy Minister Dwight Duncan at the end of this month.

'TAKE POLITICIZATION OUT'

"This includes a consultation phase, the report development and the dissemination process," Fowler said.

In December, Duncan said he wanted to eliminate cronyism from the province's largest energy generator. "I have said before that we intend to take the politicization out of the appointment of people in the energy sector," Duncan told a news conference on Dec. 4.

After he left the Prime Minister's Office, Donolo served as Chretien's consul general in Milan before he was appointed a senior vice-president at Air Canada. Donolo did not return phone calls yesterday.

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