Public Interest or Private Profit? Liberal Insider Mike Crawley Plots to Seize the Ontario Liberal Party Leadership

I've never been some well-connected, business-card-waving, lobbyist-registry-joining insider willing to sell access to people I know in the Ontario Liberal Party.  

Sure, I could've taken that route after 2003 when the Ontario Liberals first came to power.  I was a staffer back then - a big believer in the cause of defeating the Mike Harris PCs and fixing our healthcare and education systems.  While I hoped the McGuinty government would succeed in its progressive goals (and they certainly did on many files), I never dreamed of using my connections to stick it to ratepayers and get rich.  I was in politics for the right reasons.  

Liberal insider Mike Crawley

But longtime Liberal Party insider Mike Crawley clearly thought differently.  While many Liberals were working for the public good, Crawley was setting himself up to become the multi-millionaire he is today.  Now he wants to be the next Ontario Liberal Party leader, succeeding Bonnie Crombie.  I have some thoughts to share on this:

The "Cronyism" of 2004

The "business record" Crawley now touts as his leadership credential is built on a foundation of insider access.  In November 2004, while Crawley was President of the Ontario wing of the federal Liberal Party, his company, AIM PowerGen, was awarded a $475 million, 20-year contract for the Erie Shores Wind Farm.

The optics were, frankly, "gross" (as the NDP put it at the time).  While his company was bidding on that massive contract, Crawley was actively participating in Liberal Party policy meetings with industry figures and, according to Hansard records, encouraging attendance at a fundraiser for Energy Minister Dwight Duncan.  It was the beginning of a "pay-to-play" culture that would eventually haunt the Ontario Liberal Party.   

The Global Adjustment Trap 

This wasn't just about one wind farm; it was about a systemic dismantling of oversight.  Crawley's companies - first AIM PowerGen and later Northland Power - benefited from the Global Adjustment (GA) system.  This mechanism guaranteed high, above-market rates for green energy companies for 20 years, regardless of market demand.  

• Skyrocketing Rates: Between 2006 and 2014 alone, the GA cost Ontario ratepayers $37 billion. 
• The Taxpayer Subsidy: In 2018, Doug Ford's PCs couldn't cancel these lucrative contracts without massive lawsuits, so they shifted the costs from hydro bills to the general tax base. 
• The Result: Today, in 2026, every single Ontario taxpayer is still on the hook for billions of dollars a year to subsidize the legacy contracts Crawley helped establish. 

Sidelining the "Watchdogs" 

How did this happen?  The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) is supposed to ensure new projects are needed and prices are fair.  But for Crawley and his peers, the OEB was an obstacle. 

Liberal Energy Ministers Dwight Duncan and George Smitherman simply removed the OEB's teeth.  Between 2004 and 2011, they and other Liberal energy ministers issued almost 100 Ministerial Directives - marching orders that forced the system to bypass competitive bidding and cost-benefit analysis.

In 2004, Dwight Duncan didn't wait for a market need; he issued directives that "picked winners."  Mike Crawley was at the front of that line.  Because it was done via directive, there was no OEB hearing to ask if his 8 cents/kWh rate (60% above market value) was a good deal for the public.  It was a political decision, made for a political insider.  

Smitherman's "Green" Gold Rush 

When George Smitherman took the reins, he doubled down with the Green Energy Act - the ultimate "insider's charter."  He used these powers to sign infamous "Take-or-Pay" contracts.  Companies like Crawley's were paid guaranteed rates even if Ontario had a surplus of power and had to pay other jurisdictions to take it off our hands.   

Before the public realized our hydro bills were being treated like an insider's ATM, Crawley had already cashed out.  He sold AIM PowerGen in 2009 for an enterprise value of $241 million - a value no doubt inflated by those OEB-exempt contracts.  He then moved to Northland Power, where the cycle of lucrative procurement continued. 

This was a sad and soul-crushing moment in Ontario Liberal history and remains a stain on their record:  How Liberals converted the promise of green energy into a lucrative bonanza for party insiders.  

How did it happen?  The systematic dismantling of independent oversight.  

Both Dwight Duncan and George Smitherman used Ministerial Directives to bypass the experts at the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), paving a golden path for insiders like Mike Crawley while leaving taxpayers to sweep up the debris. 

Is it any wonder Smitherman is largely considered unelectable today?  While I like George on a personal level and appreciate much of his hard work over the years, there is no doubt his record in government did much to undermine Ontario Liberal credibility on so many issues.   

2026: The Return of the Architect

Now, in 2026, Mike Crawley is plotting to win the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.  He presents himself as a "successful businessman," but Crawley didn't succeed in a free market.  He succeeded in a rigged system where his friends in the party used Directives to bypass the watchdogs.  

He didn't build a business; he built a wealth-transfer machine.  

I wonder who Dwight Duncan and George Smitherman - and those who used to work for them - will end up endorsing in this 2026 race once it gets off the ground later this year!   

Perhaps Crawley's running this year because he fears a leader like Nate Erskine-Smith - someone who actually believes in transparency and might finally close the door on the "Ministerial Directive" era of politics.  Erskine-Smith opposed Mark Carney's unnecessary power grab of Bill C-5 in Ottawa last year, after all.  We need a leader who respects the public interest, not someone who spent his career figuring out how to bypass it.

Ontario Liberals need to think carefully about who we are and whether or not we will finally turn the page on the corruption of the past and become the honest, decent, progressive, innovative leaders that Ontario needs.    

The province is growing tired of the new corruption they're seeing under current PC Premier Doug Ford, including the same insider tricks and deal-making behind closed doors they came to hate under the Liberals.  

But if the Liberals are led by their own insider who got rich from previous Liberal corruption, who are they to criticize Ford for any of this?  Any why would Ontarians turn to the Ontario Liberal Party to get a better government?    

Hell no to Mike Crawley's fanciful leadership ambitions, I say.  

Does Ontario really want to go back to the days where a Minister's signature can create a millionaire overnight?  Tell me your thoughts in the comments.  

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🕒 Timeline: "The Crawley Contract Clock."

2003: The "Clean Up" Promise

• The Ontario Liberals win on a platform of ending the coal era and fixing healthcare. 
• The Insider: Mike Crawley is serving as President of the Liberal Party's Ontario wing.

November 2004: The First "Direct" Payday

• Ministerial Directive: Energy Minister Dwight Duncan issues a directive that bypasses the Ontario Energy Board's (OEB) standard review process.  
• The Deal: Crawley's company, AIM PowerGen, is awarded a $475 million, 20-year-contract for the Erie Shores Wind Farm. 
• The Controversy: Opposition parties call it "cronyism," as the price is set at 8 cents/kWh - nearly 60% above the market rate at the time.   

2006-2009: Bypassing the Watchdogs

• The Ministry continues to use Ministerial Directives to pick renewable projects rather than letting the OEB or competitive markets decide based on need. 
• The Global Adjustment (GA) begins to climb as ratepayers are forced to cover the gap between market prices and these high, "guaranteed" contract rates. 

2009: The Smitherman "Gold Rush" 

• George Smitherman introduces the Green Energy Act, further stripping the OEB of its oversight power. 
• The Exit: With his government-guaranteed contracts locked in, Crawley sells AIM PowerGen for an enterprise value of $241 million.    

2015-2024: The Northland Era

• Crawley joins Northland Power, eventually becoming CEO. 
• The company manages a massive portfolio of Ontario contracts worth billions, all while hydro rates reach crisis levels for Ontario families.  

2018-2021: The Taxpayer Bailout

• To stop the political bleeding from high hydro bills, the PC government shifts billions in GA costs from electricity bills to the general tax base. 
• The Result: Today, every Ontario taxpayer is effectively subsidizing the profit margins of the contracts Crawley helped sign.   

2026: The Full Circle

• Crawley explores a run for the Ontario Liberal leadership.
• The Question: Can the man who got rich by bypassing government oversight be trusted to lead the government in the public interest?     

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Summary of the "OEB Bypass"

 

The crux of the issue is that Dwight Duncan and George Smitherman used Section 25.30 of the Electricity Act to issue directives that overrode the OEB. This allowed them to: 

1. Set fixed prices for wind/solar that were wildly above market value. 
2. Force the system to buy power we didn't need (leading to "curtailment" where we pay producers not to produce). 
3. Ensure that insiders with political connections were at the front of the line for these "no-risk" 20-year deals.