Joint Letter to MPs: Stop Ontario’s weak system for big polluters

February 6th, 2020

Dear Member of Parliament,

Last year, Canada brought in a national carbon price, to make sure polluters have to pay for harming our climate. This includes a special system for big industrial polluters, who create a massive amount of Canada’s emissions.

But now Premier Ford wants to give Ontario’s big polluters a huge break – he’s asking the federal government to approve a new, weaker carbon pricing system. You need to say no.

Ontario’s proposal will pave the way for more carbon pollution than the federal system, which is already in place. The Auditor General’s 2019 Annual Report calculated that Ontario’s Industry Performance Standards for big polluters achieves only one third of the emissions reductions Premier Ford’s government promised. Ontario’s proposed system lets more polluters off the hook than the federal system, and puts a price on a much smaller proportion of their carbon pollution. This will add to Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions at a critical time for climate action, when we can’t afford to move backwards.

The consequences of this decision are huge. Ontario had an opportunity to put its own pricing system in place – but the government tore down the previous cap-and-trade program and offered nothing as an alternative when all the provinces were asked to share their plans. Now, well after the deadline, they are asking for their system to be approved. But it’s too late – and the proposal is too weak.

It wouldn’t be fair to put Ontario companies through a third pricing regime at this point. It’s also not fair to provinces who have stepped up with stronger plans and are doing more than their fair share to cut carbon pollution.

In the recent federal election, Canadians were promised an ambitious climate plan that would hold polluters accountable for the emissions they produce. More than 60 per cent of Ontarians voted for MP candidates who made this promise. We’re asking you not to let them down.

We’re asking you to say no to Premier Ford’s weak system for big polluters, and uphold the stronger federal standard instead.

Sincerely,

Ontario Nature is a charity that has been protecting wild species and wild spaces through education, conservation and public engagement since 1931. We are there when nature needs us most.