Ontario's PC government is facing a lawsuit for its cancellation of the province's cap and trade program.
Greenpeace Canada filed the lawsuit on Tuesday which accuses the Ford government of unlawfully failing to provide public consultation on a regulation that ended cap and trade and on Bill 4, the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, which is currently before the legislature.
Lawyers with Ecojustice in partnership with the Ottawa-Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic, have filed the lawsuit on behalf of Greenpeace Canada, and are asking that the court nullify the regulation.
“We’re suing to remind the premier that winning an election does not give his government carte blanche to ignore the statutory rights of Ontarians to be consulted on major changes to the laws and regulations that protect them from climate change," said Ecojustice lawyer Charles Hatt in a news release.
Every Ontarian has the right to be consulted on environmentally significant regulations and legislation under the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR), Greenpeace said in a news release.
Premier Doug Ford campaigned during the spring election to end the cap and trade program that had introduced by the former Liberal government. On July 28, the newly elected provincial PC government introduced the legislation to end the program.
“The Ford government’s first action when it stepped into office was to gut a program designed to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, without offering any immediate alternative,” said Hatt.
The minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks stated at the time that the elimination of carbon taxes will save the average Ontario family $260 per year and reduce gas prices by 10 cents per litre.
However, Greenpeace argues that the minister chose not to consult the public on the programs and circumvented the 30-day consultation process, which is required by law in the EBR.
Greenpeace's case is tentatively set for expedited hearing on September 21.