Does the apple fall far from the Mulroney tree?
When it comes to climate change, Premier Doug Ford has been busy. He scrapped the cap-and-trade program, cancelled the Green Ontario Fund, and allocated $30 million dollars to fight the federal government’s carbon tax. All faster than you can say “extreme weather events.”
Last month he appointed Caroline Mulroney as attorney general, who now acts as Ontario’s top lawyer.
With one of her biggest cases, she is charged with leading Ontario’s legal battle against the federal carbon tax.
She will have significant direction on the case, including selection of outside lawyers, case presentation, and communicating to the public and MPPs at Queen’s Park.
The irony is that her father, Brian Mulroney, was crowned the “Greenest Prime Minister” for his environmental record. And what a superb record it is: his 1990 Green Plan was a $3-billion comprehensive environmental action plan that guided federal environmental action.
He was also a world leader in the phase out of ozone depleting chemicals, and introduced new legislation, such as the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in 1988.
Even current Green Party leader Elizabeth May worked for his government. In other words, Mulroney was a greenie.
Moreover, Prime Minister Mulroney was all about the market and free-trade — his second legacy. In fact, he was the architect of the original U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and in today’s Trump era is working hard to maintain some sense of sanity on the U.S. side.
Yet, Caroline Mulroney will abandon a free market solution to the biggest environmental issue of our lifetime. Most economists and sensible corporations in Canada support a price on carbon — why tax income and profit, when you can tax carbon pollution instead? And make it revenue neutral by reducing income taxes an equivalent amount.
But even now she has a chance to maintain her dad’s legacy, even build on it.
During the campaign, Ford acknowledged that human-caused climate change is real and he wants to do something about it. As he forsakes market mechanisms to reduce carbon pollution, the only option remaining is government regulation. If the market is not used, then the state will have to do it.
As the province’s top lawyer, Caroline Mulroney can yield significant influence over that regulation. At the cabinet level, she can push for meaningful targets, while instructing her staff to find the most efficient way to get it done.
Mulroney, the dad, has a terrific track record on green issues. Mulroney the daughter can rise to that occasion as well.