Will the climate crisis affect your vote June 2?
Critics say the current PC government has ‘the worst ever’ record on the environment. But the Tories argue they can cut red tape and carbon emissions at the same time
Tory Premier Doug Ford earned rare universal applause, however begrudging, when he came to Arcelor Mittal Dofasco in February to trumpet a $500-million provincial investment in “the future of clean steel.”
The project, which also scored $400 million in federal Liberal support, will see the Hamilton steelmaker replace coal-fired equipment with electric arc furnaces by 2028. That historic transition will slash greenhouse emissions and improve air quality in a city long-plagued by steel pollution.
Standing in front of head-height rolls of steel, the premier vowed the Hamilton plant would soon produce “the best steel, but also the cleanest.” He also pumped Ontario’s tires as a go-to maker of future electric vehicles.
It was unique moment for a couple of reasons.
For one thing, the investment should cut provincial carbon emissions by three megatonnes — big progress for a government the auditor general warns is otherwise woefully behind on promised reductions in greenhouse gas.
It also spurred a rare hat tip from environmental advocates who normally condemn the Progressive Conservative government for nearly all of its decisions.
Environment Hamilton head Lynda Lukasik called the announcement a “big, positive step” — but also ironic coming from a province she argued has spent four years “dragging us back into the past” in the fight against climate change.
“There was a lot of irony there, because this is the government that came to power and scrapped the (carbon) cap-and-trade system … that pulled incentives for electric vehicles (EV), that literally ripped EV chargers out of the ground. I don’t think Ontario voters should forget that,” said Lukasik, who argued the world is in a “do-or-die decade” for climate action.
“We need a government that actually cares about the climate crisis.”
Ontario’s PC government goes into the June 2 election still vowing to meet climate targets under the international Paris Accords, which would require an emissions reduction of 18 megatonnes or more by 2030. (That’s a 30 per cent cut over 2005 levels.)
But Ontario auditor general Bonnie Lysyk has repeatedly criticized the province’s climate plan — or lack thereof.
The auditor general — who became the default environmental watchdog after the Ford government controversially axed the role of environmental commissioner — said in 2019 that the provincial climate plan was not based on “sound science.” In an update late last year, Lysyk said Ontario is not on track to meet its 2030 greenhouse gas-cutting targets.
And even that seemingly out-of-reach target has been labelled too little, too late by climate scientists.
The latest grim report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says greenhouse emissions need to be cut at least 43 per cent by 2030 to keep average global temperatures from climbing by more than1.5 C above pre-industrial levels — the point at which climate catastrophes like killer heat waves, drought and floods are expected to become more frequent.
Environment Minister David Piccini indicated via a spokesperson he was not available to speak to The Spectator, but told the CBC late last year, “I can look Ontarians in the eye and say Ontario is a leader in greenhouse gas emissions reduction in this federation.”
An emailed ministry response to Spectator questions maintained the government is on track to meet its 2030 emissions goals — in part thanks to projects like Dofasco’s decarbonization.
It also argued Ontario’s reductions to date “surpass those of any other province or territory in Canada.”
Former environmental commissioner Dianne Saxe — who was in the position when the government axed it — called Ontario’s emissions reduction plan “pretty pictures with nothing supporting it.”
“It’s greenwashing ... they are basically taking credit for what other governments have accomplished,” she said, pointing to federal Liberal climate initiatives and the phaseout of coal-fired electricity that predates the Tories. Saxe is now deputy leader of an Ontario Green Party touting a strategy of “net-zero” emissions by 2045 and a much higher price on carbon in its climate plan.
After watching governments of various political stripes over 40plus years as an environmental lawyer and commissioner, Saxe said she considers Ford’s environmental record “the worst ever” — in part because the evidence of climate change has never been so clear. “He can’t claim ignorance about what is facing us,” she said.
Local climate group Hamilton 350 has amassed a long list of “climate and conservation calamities” they attribute to the Ford government’s last four years in power, which they published online ahead of the election in a YouTube video.
A sample:
■ Killing the “cap and trade” system — then fighting a $30-million court battle against a replacement federal carbon tax;
■ Ripping up 758 renewable-energy contracts, then turning to natural gas-fired electricity for future supply;
■ Weakening the authority of conservation authorities and overhauling the environmental assessment process;
■ Fast-tracking plans for controversial roads like Highway 413 through the protected Greenbelt;
■ Threatening to overturn Hamilton’s decision against expanding its urban boundary, a move critics fear will trigger sprawl into farmland.
“The list is so long. It’s crazy, what this government has done when it comes to attacking the environment,” said NDP environment critic Sandy Shaw.
The MPP for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas said government policies on transportation and urban growth — think new highways and minister-ordered Greenbelt development — will “make everything worse” by adding to Ontario’s emissions tally.
The NDP is campaigning on a “Green New Deal” that takes a more aggressive approach to the climate crisis, including cutting carbon emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2030 (the Tory goal is 30 per cent) and reinstating a cap-and-trade program.
The Liberals released their environment plan Tuesday, promising to protect and expand the greenbelt, promote transit and cut carbon emissions in half by 2030.
In an earlier interview, party climate critic Lucille Collard said the current government has taken “a big step back” in the fight against climate change — in part by undoing previous Liberal efforts like the capand-trade program, electric vehicle incentives and a past decision to scrap the proposed Highway 413.
Many parties have committed to reverse some of the current government’s more controversial decisions.