Ontario government to unveil climate change plan

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government will release its plan to address climate change on Thursday.

The government, which took power in June, had promised to implement its own plan to tackle climate change after scrapping the previous Liberal regime’s cap-and-trade system.

Premier Doug Ford has vowed to fight any move by the federal government to impose a carbon tax on provinces, launching a court challenge earlier this year.

In September, Ontario’s environmental commissioner criticized the Tories for dismantling cap and trade without putting in an effective climate change program to replace it.

Saxe said the government’s decision could reverse the progress Ontario has made in cutting greenhouse gas emissions over more than a decade.

The province made close to $3 billion from cap and trade after the system was introduced by the Liberals last year.