Cap and Trade is not perfect…

Cap and Trade is not perfect - no system is or can be. But what Bill 4 seeks to repeal was / is very very effective at utilizing MARKET forces to enable emitters to identify the most effective means of limiting their carbon emissions. As a direct result, many thousands of high paying jobs were created at Ontario and other Canada based clean tech companies, as well as renewable energy companies and in large multi-nationals seeking ways to help emitters comply. These are high paying jobs, in growing companies that could easily scale to replace the manufacturing jobs we have lost and which are not coming back.

Cap and Trade drove innovation across a broad spectrum of technologies. Governments didn't pick the winners - markets did!

In just one example, the innovative ways in which old polluting steel manufacturing facilities in Hamilton were embracing brand new tech from Ontario based companies like Pond technologies and CO2 Solutions from Quebec, and were in the process of proving a solution at scale that could have helped those companies expand dramatically and export their technology around the world. Those tests were only made feasible by the combination of a stick (the Cap and the prospect of future taxes) and the small add-on investment made by GreenON recycling revenues from the auctions to support the trial.

In addition to the jobs such activities generated on their own - good high paying jobs for both scientists and workers - they (would have) enabled Canadian steel to become environmentally preferable - and thus in higher demand - commanding an increasing market share. More jobs and more taxes. And protecting jobs in an industry under threat.

And the project would have greatly reduced pollution from the steel plants in Hamilton. Reducing the inhale-able particles that bring on asthma attacks and increase the cost of our health care.

The investment made by the Province recycling the tax collected on pollution would have in the end, been revenue positive, as that relatively small investment would have resulted in additional taxes paid by individuals, and all the companies involved, as well as indirectly saving health costs.

Similar opportunities were in progress at polluting manufacturing projects right across the province: pulp and paper mills, cement factories, etc etc. In each case, the combination of the prospect of increasing taxes, plus the small provincial contribution that would help businesses become more efficient, and pollute far less and would have increased Ontario's reputation as a great place to invest, to live and to grow.

This is the MASSIVE LOST OPPORTUNITY of our time. Six billion in planned investments from the private sector, LOST. Our reputation as a province where it is safe to do business - LOST. Thousands of jobs: LOST in the first month alone after the program was cancelled. Prospects of emerging tech companies: LOST. Health benefits: LOST. Taxes: LOST. Contractor jobs in energy efficiency driven retrofits: LOST. All for an actual cost to consumers that was barely visible.

Please rethink and resinstate.