Provincial Environment…

Provincial Environment Minister Rod Philips, on meeting with Ontario's Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe: "As I said to her directly when we met, respectfully, we do not take well to folks telling us that we should not live up to the promises that we made."

Respectfully, Mr. Phillips, that is no way to govern. Your comment says to the electorate that the PCs do not wish to hear from anyone who disagrees with them, even if (especially if?) that disagreement comes from a place of subject matter expertise.

Mr. Phillips and the PCs, the precarious state of our environment and the desperate need to control emissions is not up for debate among reasonable, informed people - it's just not, and it hasn't been for many, many, many years now. We, the vast majority of the electorate, know that you know that even if it is politically advantageous to pretend otherwise.

When the PCs promised to repeal the cap & trade program, they made a dangerous pledge that flies in the face of reams evidence: evidence that emissions are directly linked to climate change, evidence that climate change is rapidly approaching a global crisis point that will impact even present generations, evidence that such programs are critical to mitigating against climate change, and evidence that cap & trade is working. Is it the be all, end all? Of course not. But it's a key component, it's doing what it was intended to do, it relies on the right actors, and the costs to Ontarians are nominal and in any case offset but, you know, the benefit of surviving and the possibility that our children or grandchildren won't have to be wear hazmat suits to leave the house.

The PCs' promise to repeal the Cap & Trade legislation and to dismantle other green programs is a promise that never should have been made. There is certainly no virtue in keeping such promise. I beg you, I implore you: please for the sake of all of us and the generations to come, PLEASE listen to the subject matter experts, look at the indisputable evidence that emissions are decreasing because of steps taken by the Liberals (federal & provincial), put aside for the sake of all of us your desire to take a sledgehammer to all things green and liberal, and be real leaders here. Do the right thing, and the people of Ontario won't forget it. No one will vote you out of office simply for reconsidering and voting on the side of science - if for no other reason, there are no political alternatives because literally everyone else accepts that Cap & Trade is not only working but essential to us having a live-able planet. But if you press on with this bill? Nor will we forget that.

Time is running out. Do the right thing.