Ontario passes bill to end cap and trade program
November 1, 2018
By
Maria Church
Nov. 1, 2018 - The Ontario government passed legislation yesterday that ends the province's cap and trade program. The government says the move will save the average family $260 per year, and reduce costs for Ontario businesses.
In a news release announcing the passage of Bill 4, The Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, the government renewed its pledge to challenge a federal carbon tax Ottawa will impose next year in provinces that do not have an equivalent program in place.
“While today marks an important milestone for Ontario, just last week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his intentions to impose a punishing, job-killing new carbon tax on the people of Ontario,” Premier Doug Ford said in a news release. “Our government is part of a growing coalition of other provinces across Canada that oppose and will ultimately repeal the federal carbon tax, which does nothing to reduce Canadian greenhouse gas emissions while raising the cost of essentials like home heating and gasoline.”
The province plans to release a made-in-Ontario environment plan in the coming weeks.
Stephen Laskowski, president of the Ontario Trucking Association, praised the new legislation in the province’s news release.
“Making diesel more expensive through carbon pricing does not educate a fleet on the need to conserve fuel, nor does it incentivize it to switch from a diesel engine, since there are no viable technological alternatives,” Laskowski said. “Bill 4, which reduces this price escalation through the elimination of the carbon pricing tax system, is a welcome relief to the Ontario Trucking Association and its members.”
The Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, Canadian Taxpayer Federation, Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, Ontario Waste Management Association, and the Canadian Independent Petroleum Marketers Association also expressed their support of the new legislation.
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