Doug Ford says Ontario government will fight carbon tax ‘with every tool’ possible

Ontario Premier Doug Ford made an appearance in Cambridge on Wednesday to declare that the province intends to fight the federal carbon tax with every tool possible.

Speaking inside a warehouse of a trucking company, Ford said there were other ways to battle climate change.

READ MORE: Doug Ford says carbon tax will cause ‘recession,’ but economists disagree

“A carbon tax is not the only way to fight climate change,” said Ford. “But what a carbon tax will do is chase manufacturing jobs, small business jobs and trucking jobs out of Ontario. Because it is clear you can be for jobs or you can be for a carbon tax, but you can’t be for both.”

WATCH: Ontario added almost 100,000 net new jobs in the past 3 months of 2018: Ford

1:34 Ontario added almost 100,000 net new jobs in the past 3 months of 2018: Ford

Ford went on to state that the carbon tax will do nothing for environment.

“A carbon tax will make no difference to the environment,” Ford said while noting that the new tax “will cost the typical household $650 by 2022.”

READ MORE: Ontario premier says management-level jobs will be axed amid ounhealth-care system overhaul

WATCH: Premier Ford attacks federal carbon tax. Travis Dhanraj reports.

1:42 Premier Ford attacks federal carbon tax

Kitchener-Hespeler MPP Marwan Tabbara released a statement countering Ford’s claim.

“A price on pollution across Canada will cut more pollution in 2022 than closing 30 coal units for an entire year,” he said in a statement.

Greenpeace Canada Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart also spoke out against Ford’s speech.

“Doug Ford unleashed a Trump-style firehose of false statements about carbon pricing today,” Stewart said on Twitter. “He not only ignored all of the evidence of its impacts on our environment and economy, but also the fact that Ontarians will be getting rebates from the federal government.”