Ontario Premier-Elect Doug Ford repeated his promise Friday to end carbon pricing in the province.
Ford said he will end the cap-and-trade system promoted by the previous provincial Liberal government while fighting the federal government’s carbon tax, the Financial Post reported.
“Today, I want to confirm that in Ontario the carbon tax’s days are numbered,” Ford told reporters in Toronto. “In fact, upon the swearing in of my new cabinet, at the top of our agenda the very first item will be to pass an order to cancel the Liberal cap-and-trade carbon tax.”
The cap-and-trade scheme claims to lower greenhouse gasses by capping emissions on targeted industries; emissions in excess of the cap means a company is penalized and has to seek points from companies with lower emissions. Ontario participates in a cap-and-trade partnership with neighboring Quebec and the equally debt-ridden state of California.
Ford promised throughout the recent provincial election campaign to fight carbon pricing in all its forms because he says it inhibits business, hurts families and doesn’t do anything for the environment.
Ford won a decisive majority in this month’s election on a platform that was clearly opposed to the economic and environmental policies of the former government under Kathleen Wynne, who emphasized green energy as alternatives to fossil fuels. (RELATED: Doug Ford’s Conservatives Win Majority Ontario Government)
Ford will not only reverse provincial policy but take on the Trudeau government’s environmental policies: “I will [be] directing my attorney general to use all available resources, to use every power at the government’s disposal, we will officially challenge the federal government carbon tax on Ontario families,” he said. “Because the cap-and-trade and carbon tax does nothing for the environment.”
“Ontario’s premier-elect gave notice today that he is not interested in fighting climate change and is effectively withdrawing from Canada’s national climate change plan.”