Ontario needs real action on…

Ontario needs real action on climate change. A part of that was putting a price on pollution, as mandated by the Federal Government (a mandate that they absolutely have the right to impose) and signed on by the Ontario Government. It's frankly disturbing how little this Government cares for agreements and legislation that was made not because of anything to do with the legislation but to do with the party who introduced it.

Outside of partisan influence there's little reason to scrap cap and trade. The program put pollution costs on emitters only, with consumers only feeling a slight increase in cost as a result. This then allowed for the government to create $2 000 000 000 worth of economic activity within the green economy. Many small, Ontario based business' as well as regular consumers benefitted greatly from this program and would continue to do so. It helped fund repairs to schools and hospitals, it put new windows on familys houses who would not have been able to afford them otherwise, it provided work for independent and small contractors, helped sell automobiles - some of which had parts made right here in Ontario, and so much more.

All of this was with costs that were half of what the Federal backstop would impose, which is again what would happen if we cancel cap and trade. While the Federal backstop is also a system that puts more money in Ontarian's pockets it does little to help fight climate change. And with a budget in need of balancing having a balanced revenue stream for fighting climate change is a terrible thing to throw away.