Ontario PCs call for Liberals to withdraw cap-and-trade bill

Government should develop revenue-neutral plan subject to rigorous oversight

QUEEN’S PARK –Today, the Ontario PC Caucus called on the Liberals to abandon their cap-and-trade bill and begin developing a revenue-neutral plan that is subject to rigorous, independent oversight.

Ontario PC Environment and Cap-and-Trade Critic Lisa Thompson sent an open letter to Glen Murray, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, to highlight the concerns the Ontario PC Caucus has with Bill 172.

First, the Financial Accountability Officer stated in his testimony before committee that this proposed legislation allows the government to restrict his access to documents related to the Liberals’ cap-and-trade slush fund. That means the government can decide, in secret, which companies and organizations will receive $1.9 billion in new tax revenue.

“With this government’s record of scandal and secret fundraisers, Ontario taxpayers are rightly concerned that the Liberals are preventing the Financial Accountability Officer from properly investigating how cap-and-trade funds are spent,” Thompson said. “No government should be trusted with so much taxpayer money, with so little accountability.”

Second, businesses from across Ontario have called on the government to stop rushing its cap-and-trade bill. They have cited several concerns about job loss and shutting investment out of the province. Instead of listening, the Liberals have cobbled together more than 70 amendments to their cap-and-trade bill in a desperate attempt to clean up the mess they have made on the file.

“The government’s band-aid solution is unacceptable. The Liberals should shelve their cap-and-trade bill and work on a new revenue-neutral plan that supports economic growth and is subject to rigorous oversight.”