Climate change is one of the…

Climate change is one of the most paramount issues we are facing. Even before the UN released it's new report yesterday, you only needed to look out your window to see the effects of climate change - heatwaves in June, violent storms, warmer winters - and the list goes on.

I'm also an MD, which has given me another view of the effects of pollution and extreme weather on our most vulnerable- the poor, the elderly, and the children. On very hot days with poor air quality the ER is packed with elderly suffering from heat stroke and kids suffering from more aggressive asthma attacks.

Targeting large polluters is one of the best ways of reducing CO2 levels. And the best means of doing this is through a carbon tax. It's not rocket science to know that as long as polluting is free, companies will make no effort to reduce their emissions. It is only when they have to pay that any real effort to reduce GHG emissions will come to fruition. One need not look any further than Australia. In the two years that the country enacted a carbon tax, CO2 emissions by about 10 million tonnes. Additionally a CO2 tax can actually put money back into most citizen's pockets, meaning they'll be both healthier and more financially ahead than without the tax.

There are those in your party that don't see climate change as a threat. That's their mistake. But you owe a duty of care to your citizens. And if nothing else, your gov't should really start looking at potential legal risks it is taking by not acting. The Dutch court of appeal just upheld the 2015 Urgenda ruling finding the Dutch gov't was required to tackle climate change more aggressively than their current course. If you think there isn't a group of citizens who won't be taking Doug Ford to court over this issue in the near future, than you are sorely mistaken.