The Intergovernmental Panel…

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns us that we are speeding towards a dangerous tipping point. Their most recent report warns calls for the world to restrict temperatures to a 1.5 C increase. Numerous scientific assessments around the world, and here in Canada carried out by the Government of Canada consistently continue to show that unchecked, climate change would have negative impacts on sectors throughout the province and the country, and negative impacts on the health and well-being of Canadians, including Ontarians.

Although some inefficiencies have been identified with the cap-and-trade approach, the government has provided little rationale to the public about how the cap-and-trade program has failed to deliver reductions in greenhouse gases. Or that the cost of cap-and-trade to Ontarians is greater than the cost of addressing climate change at a future date, combined with the cost of impacts from phenomena such as extreme weather events that are expected to be exacerbated with climate change.

As the rest of the world moves towards green energy technologies, it is unclear from Bill 4, how the Ontario government will position the province to take advantage of the growth in the green technology sector. Will the Ontario government continue to subsidize the fossil fuel industry, hampering a fair playing field for green technology? As a taxpayer, I do not want my taxes to go towards subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, when promising green technologies are available that could have multiple co-benefits. And I also don't want to see the province left behind as green technology moves forward globally.

By announcing the end to the cap-and-trade system before Bill 4 is passed, the Government of Ontario has reduced the desirability of carbon credits and undermined the market for Ontario. Therefore, I urge the Government of Ontario to replace the system as soon as possible with binding greenhouse gas targets that will limit the global temperature rise to 1C, together with transparent reporting on progress against that target. We are at a crucial point in addressing climate change and in order to avert costs and impacts for Ontarians far into the future, we have an opportunity to take action at lower cost and effort NOW.