This Bill is a serious…

This Bill is a serious mistake. The Ontario economy must for environmental and economic reasons move away from its current reliance on petroleum based energy. The environmental problem is obvious given the fires in western Canada, the desertification in Africa and the increased intensity of storms. The economic problem for Ontario is no less obvious. Oil is getting harder to find and extract. the sources of oil in key parts of the world are getting more unstable. The price of petroleum based products will go up. Since Ontario does not have significant petroleum reserves it is essential that it move more quickly than some other jurisdictions away from reliance on oil. Using a price based approach is an effective and essentially Conservative strategy.

Bill 4 is an overreaction against the prior government. The new government must apply conservative principles to address the economic and environmental problems created by our reliance on petroleum. The fact that the prior government happened on an appropriate solution is no reason to revert to commend and control regulations that are contrary to Conservative principles or worse to ignore a key issue of the day.

New governments are elected to move forward not backward.