Dear Editor:
The Ford government’s first project in 2018 was to cancel 758 solar and wind projects at a cost of $231 million to Ontario taxpayers. The Ontario government debt for 2018/19 was over $337 billion and the deficit was $7.4 billion compared to $3.7 billion the year before under the Wynne government.
In 2023, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) said 1,500 MW of new electricity generation was needed and they proposed getting it by building new fossil gas plants or increasing the generation from old ones. Too bad that five years earlier the Ford government didn’t have the foresight to realize that the cancelled wind and solar projects would be needed soon.
But the Ford government loves fossil fuels. It not only wants to cook us with the 300% increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the gas plants and give us health problems with the attendant pollution, it also wants us to continue paying for the plants, even if they have to shut down to comply with the federal proposal to phase out fossil fuel generated electricity.
Another Ford project in 2018 was to cancel the Cap-and-Trade program at a cost to you and me of $5.6 million in compensation and $7.2 billion in lost revenue.
Ford spent even more of our money by fighting the carbon tax. He lost. It cost us another $30 million – that’s what he set aside for legal costs, but the real cost is unknown.
Ford decided to “help us” by not charging licence plate fees, thereby losing $1.1 billion per year in government revenue. How did the government compensate for the lost revenue? It cut health and education services and capped the pay for nurses and educators (rescinding Bill 124 that capped wages will cost $13.5 billion). And oh yes, the Ontario government debt for 2023/24 is projected to be $414 bllion.
For 80% of us, the carbon tax rebate puts as much or more money back into our pockets than it takes out in carbon tax. The Ford government only takes money out of our pockets.
It’s not the tax that needs to be axed!
Ron Moore,
Hillsburgh