I oppose this Bill, for the…

I oppose this Bill, for the reasons set out below. The Bill should be withdrawn by the Government and the model implemented by the previous government to reduce carbon emissions in Ontario should be retained and built upon. There simply is not time for the Government of Ontario to start back at square one as envisaged by Bill 4 if it is serious about helping ensure that Canada meets its commitments under the Paris Accord. As the International Panel on Climate Change just recently re-affirmed, it is essential to achieve the maximum 1.5 deg global temperature increase by 2030, a mere 12 years from now.

There are four major sources of carbon emissions in Canada: power generation, industries, transportation and central heating. The steps taken previously to close coal powered generating stations in Ontario have largely dealt with the power generating sector. A properly designed and implemented cap and trade approach is the most efficient and effective means to force reductions of carbon emissions from the remaining three sectors in a relatively short period of time. As the Ontario program did, it can also provide funding that can be used to improve infrastructure and energy efficiencies to help Ontario residents deal with the costs of transitioning to a low carbon economy.

The current model is not perfect, of course, and can be improved. However, it has been operating successfully for several years and Ontario companies have factored it into their operations. It is foolish to throw away the program at this critical time in our history. Bad promises do not make good policy.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide my input on this extremely important matter.