Defer cap and trade, chambers urge Wynne

A group of 20 chambers across Ontario — including Windsor and Essex County — are calling for the Wynne government to defer the impending cap and trade program. The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce said the program, which is scheduled to be implemented Jan. 1, 2017, is problematic because of its high costs “layered on top of skyrocketing electricity prices, lack of sector-by-sector economic impact and a change in policy direction in the United States.”

According to the local chamber, electricity prices in Ontario have increased by 383 per cent since 2004. The introduction of the cap and trade program would add further charges on natural gas, gasoline and diesel fuel, the chamber said.

“Businesses are already struggling under the weight of ever-increasing costs and we are extremely concerned about the impacts of these additional charges on jobs and the economy,” Matt Marchand, president and CEO of the WindsorEssex Regional Chamber of Commerce, said in a news release.

“The unintended impact of Ontario’s cap and trade may result in a removal of jobs and investment from clean grids like Ontario to much dirtier grids in the U.S. and elsewhere.”

Repeated requests have been made for a sector-by-sector economic impact analysis, which have yet to be completed.

The chamber said given that president-elect Donald Trump and the vast majority of states seem unlikely to participate in the cap and trade program, the Ontario government should delay the implementation for at least one year.