Hon. R. Phillips, Thank you…

Hon. R. Phillips,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Bill 4.

As a parent of two young children and an environmental consultant, I am very concerned about how our planet and civilization will be affected in the coming years by extreme weather and climate change.

I am very disappointed that the Ontario PC government is dismantling cap and trade, has put an end to energy efficiency and EV incentives, and is planning to fight the Federal backstop carbon tax in court.

We need carbon pricing to accelerate our transition to a low carbon economy. While regulations have an important role to play they are frequently more expensive to implement.

I have read Bill 4 and am disappointed by the lack of detail in the Targets, Plan, and Progress Reports section.

First, it is paramount that we have a climate action plan, with science-based targets that meet or exceed the requirements of the Paris Accord. Section 3(1) provides no specific targets and Section 4(1) provides no details as to what might be included in the climate action plan. We also need a legal requirement for Ontario to meet those targets, which appears to be missing from this bill. Lastly, we need a credible and transparent process to monitor and report on the progress of reducing our emissions to meet our targets. The reporting needs to be regular and frequent (i.e., annual). Currently section 5(1) is too vague on the frequency of reporting.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Bill 4. I look forward to seeing more details on in the next version of the bill.