Mike Schreiner, Guelph MPP and leader of the Green Party of Ontario made the following statement regarding the PC plan for litter reduction:

“We were promised a climate strategy, but were given a litter reduction plan.

If this is the government’s response to the dire warnings from IPCC about impending climate catastrophe, then they clearly were not listening.

Instead of showing leadership, the government is weakening Ontario’s previous targets and adopting an unproven carbon trust model that is unlikely to reduce emissions. The new Trudeau/Harper targets mean that we will fail to meet the goals set under Paris Climate Agreement.

Asking citizens to pay polluters and setting up burdensome new regulations will only cost more and delay action. These will do little to put Ontario on a pathway to being carbon neutral by 2050. Instead, they signal that Ontario is throwing in the towel. And asking Ontarians to reduce litter in the face a climate crisis is like the US President asking Californians to rake leaves to prevent forest fires.

We should expect better. We must demand a real plan. Pollution pricing is basic economics, but this government continues to ignore the consensus from scientists, experts and even conservative economists who agree on it. The Premier could embrace the $26 trillion clean economy and put money directly in people’s pockets by adopting the Green Party’s carbon fee and dividend solution.

At the end of the day, we will all pay the price for this irresponsible plan. In the face of evidence and real solutions, this government has chosen to be on the wrong side of history.”

source: media release, Mike Schreiner, Leader GPO