• Climate Change Action Plan will drive up the cost of housing, fuel, and commits billions in new spending based on questionable revenue projections

TORONTO, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is slamming the Wynne government’s plan for $8.3 billion in new spending on green initiatives like mandatory electric vehicle charging stations in new homes and commercial buildings, subsidies to businesses, mandatory home energy audits and more subsidies for luxury electric supercars.

“The slew of new top-down controls on our lives that the government has announced today is frankly shocking, and will hurt everyone from families to businesses,” said CTF Ontario Director, Christine Van Geyn. “For example, the cost of mandatory electric vehicle charging stations will drive up the cost of housing, which is a dream already out of reach for many Ontario families. And changes to the Building Code that will require net zero carbon emissions for small buildings will mean higher building and heating costs for businesses too. Premier Wynne might as well ask employers in Ontario to pack up and move elsewhere.”

The $8.3 million in new spending that Premier Wynne and Environment Minister Murray announced today will come from revenue raised from the government’s cap-and-trade plan. Wynne expects to raise $1.9 billion each year from cap and trade quarterly auctions.

“Wynne’s spending plan is based on the unrealistic belief that she can raise $1.9 billion a year from selling carbon credits in auctions with California and Quebec. The market for these artificial government-created financial instruments has virtually collapsed. The last auction only produced $10 million in revenue. If that trend continues, Wynne will be $1.5 billion short, but has already committed to spend the money. The difference will be made up by higher taxes and by more deficits,” continued Van Geyn.

The spending plan had been leaked twice before the government actually revealed details, and the government released taxpayer funded advertisements promoting the plan featuring David Suzuki before the plan was public. Earlier versions of the plan revealed a plan by the government to eventually phase-out all natural gas heating for homes and small businesses, a plan the government has since walked back from.

“Earlier drafts of this green spending scheme are deeply troubling, and may reveal the Wynne and Murray’s true and ultimate plan for Ontario. They say now that banning natural gas isn’t their objective, but remember, after winning a majority government last June Wynne said a carbon tax ‘is not in our plan’, yet now we have one with cap and trade,” concluded Van Geyn.