While the timing of the provincial election may have been chosen to distract from the Doug Ford government’s record, we are running a series to remind everyone of the actual climate and environmental record.

A solid climate policy makes economic sense, leads to significant cost savings while also creating new economic opportunities, energy efficiency improvements and a more resilient and sustainable economy in the long run. It is also part of our moral obligation to future generations.

An independent environment commissioner provides objective analysis and recommendations on environmental issues. They also hold governments accountable for protecting the environment and following environmental laws.

This is not a cost saving measure. If you were fully compliant with laws and your policies represented a balance approach then you would have no reason to remove independent oversight.

Other provinces continued a provincial rebate program in tandem with the previous federal rebate program. Ontario could have easily altered the provincial program only to allow rebates for vehicles under a certain dollar value.

Based on the federal ZEV Council dashboard Ontario scores significantly below British Columbia and Quebec for 2024 Light duty electric vehicles. British Columbia was 22.9%, Quebec was 29.7% and Ontario was a meager 8%. Although an EV is not for everyone in Canada, it is viable for many that do the majority of their driving in-city. That should mean Ontario would have the highest adoption rate.

Wetlands play a crucial role in maintaining healthy ecosystems by filtering pollutants from water, providing vital habitats for diverse wildlife, storing floodwaters, regulating water flow, and acting as a significant carbon sink, thus contributing to climate change mitigation; essentially acting as natural sponges that protect against extreme weather events and improve water quality. 

The Ford Government changed rules to make it easier for developers to pave over wetlands. Species at risk cannot no longer be used to assess developments on wetlands and prevents small interconnected bogs, swamps and marshes from being assessed as a network. These changes do not help any housing shortage but rather only allow sprawl of single family houses being built while paving over the wetlands.

It would have significant negative impacts on climate change, the environment, and the protection of species at risk by destroying habitats and harming historical Indigenous sites. It would not save any significant travel time, it would induce more traffic and public transit would move more people more effectively for less money.

Highway 413 would cause over 17 million tonnes of additional CO2 emissions by 2050.

The Ford government ended the standardized rules that cover pollution released into waterways, and instead create individual requirements for each industrial operation without any minimum standards. This could mean larger volumes of chemicals being released into Ontario’s waterways. Contrary to what industry would have us believe, the solution to pollution is not dilution. We must keep strict rules for the wastewater entering our environment.

An auditor's reports states that the Ford gov’t deliberately ignoring public transparency rules, bills the public for hazardous waste spills, allows companies to avoid recycling requirements and rubber stamps permits to destroy endangered species habitat.

Initially disgusted as meeting short-term demand increases, the use of Fossil Gas plants are now part of the long-term plans. Between 2019 and 2023 the carbon intensity of the Ontario grid increased 131%. The percentage of electricity generated by Fossil Gas is projected to be 25% by 2030. It was 4% in 2017.

Profits over Planet / “Connected Developer Profits” over “Land-use planning advice” rationale leads to climate and environmental harm. At least once a slide in the polls caused him to reverse course.

August 2023 Auditor General report - process favoured developers with ties to the housing minister’s chief of staff, selection of lands removed was “biased,” “seriously flawed,” and was “dismissive of effective land-use planning.”

The OEB decision was made to reduce risk for ratepayers as new gas infrastructure will soon be considered a stranded worthless asset. It would have improved market signals, reduced emissions and reduced overall costs to homeowners if heat pumps are installed instead. The Ford government overruled the decision to help out their friends at Enbridge.

Ontario Clean Air Alliance - “That the Ford government believes we will still be using gas to heat our homes 30 or 40 years from now speaks volumes about its head-in-the-sand approach to both the growing impacts of climate change.”