TORONTO - The Ontario Liberal government allowed the deadline to pass to set up a committee that would have investigated the controversial and costly cancellation of gas plants, NDP MPP Gilles Bisson said.

The finance committee had until Thursday to begin work probing decisions made by the Dalton McGuinty government to tear up agreements to build gas-fired electricity plants in Oakville and Mississauga, he said.

Taxpayers picked up the tab - a minimum of $230 million - to save Liberal political seats in those areas, Bisson said.

"There needs to be something that comes out of this committee by way of recommendations that says to the public, and more importantly, says to all political parties: You can't do this kind of thing and get away with it," Bisson said.

"Because the biggest deterrent to stopping somebody from doing something like this, is the fear of them getting caught and having some sort of repercussion in the end."

McGuinty said earlier this week that he chose to prorogue parliament because the opposition were more interested in tricks than getting work done.

Charges against Energy Minister Chris Bentley for delays in turning over gas plant-related documents to a committee were "spurious" and "phoney" McGuinty told reporters.

Tory MPP Monte McNaughton said prorogation killed almost 100 pieces of legislation before the House including his private member's bill that would have required municipalities to hold local referendums before accepting a new casino.

"In places like Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa, we see councillors struggling to make the right decision by their constituents all because there's no clear way for people to voice what they want," McNaughton said.