Ontario, due to its inland…

Ontario, due to its inland geography, has been largely spared from the impact of sea level rise. But fluctuating Great Lakes levels over the past decade have been due to changes in the hydrological cycle that underlies climate change. And more recently, Ontario has experienced fall (instead of the more usual spring) riverine flooding, torrential downpours, and just a couple of weeks ago a devastating EF-3 tornado in Dunrobin. The impacts of climate change are becoming more severe and more frequent -- and obvious to all with eyes to see.

It's vitally important that Ontario take aggressive action to decarbonise its economy, and this includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, the existing cap & trade program was fairly opaque, had significant exemptions (viz. for large GHG emitters), and consequently did not have broad support among Ontarians. As a result, though the cap & trade program may have been economically efficient, it wasn't particularly effective -- and may have understandably seemed like a "tax grab" to many Ontarians.

Rescinding the cap & trade program provides an opportunity to replace it with a better and more effective type of carbon pricing -- a carbon fee & dividend program. To be more effective in reducing GHG emissions, a better carbon tax should be; i) several times greater than the federal back-stop carbon price (i.e. ~$150 / CTE) to have some "bite" to stimulate producers and consumers to change their habits; ii) devoid of exemptions (e.g. both the cement and agriculture sectors should be included); and most importantly iii) its fees should be returned directly to Ontarians via a quarterly carbon dividend cheque -- this way the people can decide how their carbon taxes are spent.