Speakers ponder effects of gas tax cut on congestion, transit funding at forum The pledge of Ontario’s new Progressive Conservative government to lower gas taxes by 10 cents a litre was called regressive and counter-productive to efforts to reduce congestion and fund new transit infrastructure by speakers addressing a recent Toronto transit forum. The effects of the gas tax cut were assessed by experts from the worlds of academia, business, the non-profit sector and construction advocacy during a four-hour session of presentations and panel discussions hosted by transit advocates Transport Futures. The Doug Ford government plan was dissected against a backdrop of carbon policy instability th

Ottawa looks to relax benchmarks under Canadian carbon pricing programme The Canadian government may relax industry production benchmarks under its output-based carbon pricing system (OBPS), which forms part of its backstop carbon pricing plan, as well as introduce a similar metric for the power sector, it said at a workshop on Wednesday. In addition to a levy on fossil fuels, the federal government’s backstop plan under the pan-Canadian Framework includes an OBPS that would regulate facilities emitting in excess of 50,000 tonnes of CO2e per year, with an option for entities emitting over 10,000 tonnes to participate voluntarily. According to an update by Toronto-based consultants ClearBlue

UPDATE – Ontario cap-and-trade repeal bill sees compliance obligations, few refunds for purchased allowances The Ontario government on Wednesday introduced a bill to formally repeal the province’s cap-and-trade programme, earmarking compensation equivalent to a tiny fraction of the nearly C$3 billion raised through allowance sales and effectively establishing compliance obligations for the scheme’s emitters. According to Toronto-based consultants ClearBlue Markets, the government estimates there are currently over 200 million OCAs that have a value of approximately C$3.88 billion. Ontario lawmakers are using this as a starting point in their calculations, and they came to their C$5 million c

UPDATE 2-Canada's Ontario government scraps cap-and-trade program The newly elected Ontario government announced on Tuesday it would end the province’s cap-and-trade program, a policy designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fulfilling one of Premier Doug Ford’s election promises. However, it leaves businesses that bought C$2.8 billion ($2.1 billion) worth of allowances in limbo. Ford’s Progressive Conservative government swept to power last month, ending 15 years of Liberal rule in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and the country’s economic engine, with a promise to cut corporate and personal taxes. The government said it would immediately start an orderly wind-down of all progr

Will Ontario's Carbon Market Withdrawal Harm The Western Climate Initiative? No, Says Price Rebound. Shortly after his June 7th election, populist Ontario Premier-designate Doug Ford announced his intention to withdraw from the California-Quebec-Ontario linked Western Climate Initiative (WCI) carbon market and promised to fight the Canadian government’s broader efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, causing turmoil for companies in the province. Doug Ford, Ontario's premier-designate, speaks during a briefing on North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, June 14, 2018. But while Premier-designate Ford’s actions may have fulfilled his campa