When Doug Ford killed Ontario’s cap-and-trade program, we knew that there would be a financial hit, and yesterday, we found out just how much it will cost.
Ontario’s financial accountability officer, whose job it is to sift through the political rhetoric and just look at the numbers, said that cancelling the program will cost the government a total of $3 billion over the next four years.
In a thinly veiled attempt to put a positive spin on the story, Environment Minister Rod Phillips said that it was $3 billion going back into the pockets of Ontario taxpayers.
That would be comforting, except for the fact that it’s not really true.
That $3 billion was to come from businesses that bought carbon credits under the plan, not from taxpayers.
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But make no mistake about it; cancelling the plan and that revenue stream will have a profound effect on taxpayers.
A good deal of that money was earmarked for local transit improvements and much needed social housing repairs to ease the affordable housing crisis and to school boards to do necessary repairs and upgrades to Ontario schools.
Without that provincial money, the cost of those programs will likely fall on to local property tax bills.
We already experienced the pain and suffering of a provincial government downloading costs onto our already burdensome property taxes, and with Ford’s cap-and-trade decision, it looks like we’re heading for Downloading: The Sequel.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML
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