{"id":8204,"date":"2019-04-01T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T16:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=8204"},"modified":"2019-11-06T03:27:55","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T08:27:55","slug":"ontario-government-in-court-today-over-failure-to-consult-when-scrapping-cap-and-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/press-release\/8204\/ontario-government-in-court-today-over-failure-to-consult-when-scrapping-cap-and-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario government in court today over failure to consult when scrapping cap and trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

April 1, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

2018 election was no substitute for following the law, say Ecojustice and Greenpeace Canada<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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TORONTO \u2014 Premier Doug Ford\u2019s decision to scrap the province\u2019s cap-and-trade program without public consultation has landed his government in court today, defending a suit brought by Ecojustice lawyers on behalf of Greenpeace Canada.<\/p>\n

The organizations filed the lawsuit to defend the public\u2019s right to be consulted on policies that have a major impact on the environment, and seeks to have the Court prohibit the government using elections to skirt legally-required consultation.<\/p>\n

Professor Amir Attaran, lawyer for the Ecojustice-uOttawa Environmental Law Clinic, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cLiterally the first decision of the Ford government was to kill cap-and-trade. To do it without the necessary consultation was illegal. We launched this case to uphold Ontarians\u2019 legal right to be consulted on major changes to regulations that affect the environment. We expect the court to affirm that the Ford government cannot refuse that obligation, even if they were basking in election euphoria. Ontarians voted for a law-abiding government, and Premier Ford must follow the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keith Stewart, Senior Energy Strategist with Greenpeace Canada, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe destructive impacts of climate change-fueled storms, floods and wildfires are all around us, yet Doug Ford would have us stick our heads in the sand and pretend it\u2019s someone else\u2019s problem to solve. We are taking the Ford government to court to prove that their dismantling of Ontario\u2019s climate protection plan was not only reckless, it was unlawful.\u201d<\/p>\n

By coincidence, April 1, 2019 is also the date during which the Federal \u201cbackstop\u201d carbon price comes into force. Had Premier Ford not scrapped the province\u2019s cap and trade program, Ontarians would not be subject to the federal carbon price, and would have been able to use the money raised by cap and trade for further carbon reduction incentives.
\nThe Environmental Commission of Ontario was also eliminated today.<\/p>\n

Key facts<\/strong><\/p>\n