The Cap and Trade system…

The Cap and Trade system should not have been cancelled for many reasons.

1. Cap-and-trade money was funding energy-efficiency programs in schools, public housing, hospitals and transit systems.

2. Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions declined from 2005 to 2016, but that trend is now in jeopardy.

3. Dismantling a climate change law that was working is bad for the environment, bad for our health, and bad for business.

4. The government's proposed replacement climate law, Bill 4, the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, is much too weak and it promises undetermined action to achieve undetermined and easily changed targets at some undetermined future time, with no criteria or consequences.

The Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada should be leaders in environmental protections and reducing pollution - instead we are going backwards. This is truly shameful - our children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences of our lack of action on climate change.