TORONTO – They were two of the top people in the final days of the Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government and have now been charged by the Ontario Provincial Police after a lengthy investigation into deleted computer emails related to the cancelled gas plants.
David Livingston, 63, McGuinty’s last chief of staff, and Laura Miller, 36, McGuinty’s last deputy chief of staff, were charged Thursday with breach of trust, mischief in relation to data, and misuse of a computer system.
They are accused of deleting thousands of government emails related to the decision to cancel two gas-fired power plants in Oakville and Mississauga in the lead-up to the 2011 provincial election. The controversial decision cost Ontario taxpayers $1.1 billion, according to the auditor general Bonnie Lysyk.
Who is David Livingston?
Livingston worked for 30 years as a TD investment banker before joining the public service in 2005 where he served as the chief executive of Infrastructure Ontario. He was named as McGuinty’s chief of staff in May 2012.
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Livingston’s lawyer Fredrick Schumann said he “certainly did not break the law as alleged.”
“He was consistently open about his actions in the premier’s office. He always believed that those actions were proper and in accordance with normal practices. And he has cooperated with the police investigation,” said Schumann.
“We are confident that he will be vindicated.”
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Livingston currently divides his time between a number of organizations, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is listed as the the director Maple Leaf Angels, a not-for-profit organization that helps fund startup companies in Ontario, an adviser at the Ryerson Institute for Infrastructure Innovation, and director of the Mississauga Steelheads, a team in the Ontario Hockey League.
Who is Laura Miller?
Laura Miller was McGuinty’s last deputy chief of staff before he resigned as premier.
A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Miller is a long-time Liberal who rose through the Ontario government occupying various roles that included director of operations for the premier’s office, and chief of staff for the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs before being named as McGuinty’s deputy chief of staff.
After leaving McGuinty’s office in 2013 she moved to B.C. politics when she was recruited to work on Premier Christy Clark’s campaign. After Clark’s election victory she was named as executive director of the B.C. Liberal party.
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Miller stepped down Wednesday night from her position with the B.C. Grits ahead of Thursday’s charges.
“I intend to vigorously defend against these charges,” said Miller in a statement.
“After formally complaining about the conduct of the OPP in the way that they acted during their investigation into document retention, I find myself being charged,” she said, referring to her complaint to the Ontario Independent Police Review Director about the OPP.
“I have always had trust and confidence in the police. Today, that is not so.”
Clayton Ruby, who is representing Miller, was emphatic in her defence.
“This is the office of the premier of Ontario, for God’s sake! No records get destroyed there. They just get stored somewhere else,” Ruby said in a statement.
The OPP said in a release that Thursday’s charges come after a “complex” investigation into the scandal led by its anti-rackets branch.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
In a court document, police allege that Livingston gave Peter Faist, then-boyfriend of Miller and an IT consultant who had been under contract to the Liberals until last year, access to files in the premier’s office that were then wiped clean.
It is alleged Faist, who has denied any wrongdoing, was given $10,000 out of the taxpayer-funded Liberal caucus budget to delete the computer files. The Liberals later repaid the money.
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