Ford government to introduce legislation to end cap-and-trade carbon tax in Ontario

The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party announced it’s introducing legislation today to eliminate the cap-and-trade carbon tax in the province.

Today, Environment Minister Rod Phillips announced the legal framework to wind down the program, that if approved, would help reduce gas prices by 10 cents per litre.

Additionally, it would help save the average family $260 per year and remove a cost burden from Ontario businesses, allowing them to grow, create jobs and compete around the world.

“Ontario’s carbon tax era is over,” said Phillips. “Cancelling the cap-and-trade carbon tax is the right thing to do, a good thing to do and one more example of a promise made and a promise kept.”

Phillips said the new proposed legislation, if passed, will compensate eligible participants of the program, including the development of new regulations.

Participants eligible for compensation will be required to meet the following criteria:

Participants who were required to participate in the cap and trade program
Participants whose accumulated costs are currently above and beyond their assessed emissions
Participants who did not pass program costs down to consumers

The proposed legislation will also include measures to help replace the cap-and-trade carbon tax with a better plan for achieving real environmental goals.

Scrapping cap-and-trade was one of Premier Doug Ford’s key promises during the province’s spring election campaign and one of the priorities he vowed to address during this month’s sitting of the legislature.

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