Lobby group praises Ford for ‘no carbon tax’ pledge

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is applauding the July 12 speech from the throne, which committed the government to introducing legislation that would end Ontario’s cap-and-trade carbon tax.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford with Canadian Taxpayers Federation Ontario Director Christine Van Geyn.

“Mr. Ford was elected with a mandate to save Ontario families money by eliminating the damaging cap-and-trade carbon tax, and that’s exactly what today’s commitment will do,” said CTF Ontario Director, Christine Van Geyn. “We applaud the Premier for keeping his promise to Ontario taxpayers by making eliminating the carbon tax one of the first acts of his government. This is a move that is going to save taxpayers money and help our province’s economy.”

On February 10, Mr. Ford signed a pledge with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation committing him to both cancel cap-and-trade and to challenge the federal carbon tax. His promise to eliminate the tax was prominently featured in his election campaign.

“The cap-and-trade carbon tax has already cost Ontarians $2.9 billion. The tax never should have been introduced, and ending it is the right thing to do. We want to see the tax eliminated with as little cost as possible – by simply allowing the existing credits to expire and refusing to issue any additional credits. Keeping the tax in place will cost many times more than the cost of eliminating it,” continued Van Geyn.