Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced that he will introduce legislation that requires future provincial governments to hold a public vote before creating new carbon taxes.
The Premier made this announcement yesterday morning during a press conference in Mississauga.
“If passed, this new legislation will require future provincial governments to hold a referendum before imposing a carbon pricing scheme,” he said.
“The new law will guarantee that no provincial government can force a costly carbon tax on the people of Ontario without ensuring their voices are heard loud and clear,” said Ford.
Premier Ford also took a dig at the former Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie who is now the leader of the Liberal party. He called her the “queen of carbon tax” on two separate occasions during the press conference.
In response, Crombie released a statement where she referred to the Premier as “Desperate Doug.”
“Let’s be clear: Doug Ford would sooner drag Ontario backwards just to enrich his well-connected insiders than come up with a climate plan of his own,” the statement said.
Mike Schreiner, leader of Ontario’s Green party and the MPP for Guelph also released a statement regarding the Ford government’s decision on carbon tax.
“For five years, the Premier has allowed Ontario’s housing, health care and education crises to spiral out of control while spending taxpayer dollars on backroom deals for well-connected insiders.”
“The results are all around us: record-breaking ER wait times, sky-high housing costs and a post-secondary education sector in crisis mode. Meanwhile, the list of Ford flip flops gets longer every day,” said Schreiner in a portion of his statement.
The government plans to introduce the legislation next week when the Legislature resumes sitting.