Promise History
25-Mar-2021
On March 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the federal government’s carbon pricing levy is constitutional, and so there will continue to be a carbon pricing scheme in all provinces and territories in Canada, including Ontario. The Ontario government has stated that they will respect this ruling, therefore the promise is broken.
“Ontario’s environment minister [Jeff Yurek] said that while the provincial government is disappointed in the Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold the federal carbon pricing legislation, it will respect their decision.”
Supreme Court rules Ottawa's carbon tax is constitutional
20-Jan-2020
The Ontario government is currently challenging the federal carbon levy in the Supreme Court of Canada. This promise has therefore been changed to “in progress.”
“Ontario families and small businesses pay the federal carbon levy. Ontario challenged Ottawa’s authority to impose the carbon levy in court and lost and is now appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada. […] The province is also subject to the output-based system on any facility emitting more than 50,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas each year.”
How carbon pricing works across the country
13-Dec-2019
The Ontario government repealed the cap-and-trade system that was in place from 2016 to 2018 (see more here). However, this did not result in the elimination of carbon pricing in Ontario, as the Canadian government then imposed a federal carbon levy on the province. This promise is therefore broken.
“The GGPPA [Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act] received Royal Assent on June 21, 2018. It establishes the framework for the federal carbon pollution pricing system. The federal system consists of two main parts, which can apply in whole or in part in a backstop jurisdiction: A regulatory charge on fossil fuels (fuel charge), administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and; A regulatory trading system for industry, known as the Output-Based Pricing System (OBPS), administered by ECCC through the Output-Based Pricing System Regulations (OBPS Regulations). […] The federal fuel charge came into force: on April 1, 2019 in Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan; on July 1, 2019 in Yukon and Nunavut; and on January 1, 2020 in Alberta.”
Protecting our environment
22-Oct-2019
“Effective July 3, 2018, we [the Ontario government] cancelled the cap and trade regulation and prohibited all trading of emission allowances. We have developed a plan to wind down the program.”
Archived - Cap and trade
For The People: A Plan for Ontario
Reference Documents
“An Act to mitigate climate change through the pan-Canadian application of pricing mechanisms to a broad set of greenhouse gas emission sources and to make consequential amendments to other Acts”
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
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