(SUDBURY):  Green Party candidate and economist Dr. David Robinson wants to make sure that the Ontario government sends a carbon cheque to every Ontarian.  He is championing a carbon fee and dividend policy that would pay people a dividend from money collected at source from greenhouse gas polluters.
 
“We want to charge a fee for dumping pollution into the atmosphere and we want to give the money back to the people,” says Robinson. “As an economist at Queen’s Park, I’ll push Premier Wynne to send you a monthly cheque from the revenue collected by a fee on pollution. Our carbon pricing policy definitely will cut greenhouse gasses – but it won’t make you poorer.”
 
Making polluters pay is a fair, effective and progressive way to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. A carbon fee and dividend plan would place the revenue from charging polluters at source in a dedicated account and return the money directly to people via a carbon cheque.
 
“I was the first member of parliament to propose a carbon fee and dividend in the House of Commons,” says Bruce Hyer, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay-Superior North, and Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada.  “It’s a brilliant idea supported by the Citizens Climate Lobby and the Green Party.  It’s the only sustainable and effective method for reducing carbon pollution.
 
Hyer is in Sudbury today to hand out campaign literature in the form of Green Party carbon cheques with David Robinson.  These cheques – in the amount of $30 – represent what each Ontarian would receive as their share of the carbon dividend.
 
“The Liberal government is flirting with a cap and trade system,” says Robinson. “They want polluters to collect the fee for them. It is a coward’s way of raising taxes. Cap and Trade is a huge money trough for lawyers and speculators. That’s why big business likes it so much.” 
 
“The Conservatives and the Liberals have no plan, and the NDP are stuck with an ineffective and bureaucratic cap and trade system,” says Hyer.  “Carbon fee and dividend will not only reduce carbon pollution effectively, it will put money into the pockets of most Canadian families.  It will reduce both pollution and poverty.”
 
A carbon fee and dividend plan will reward innovative companies and create jobs and prosperity while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.  It is partially modelled after a BC carbon pricing model that has reduced fossil fuel use by 16 percent, while the BC economy has performed better than the Canadian average.  It will reward people for their individual and collective efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.
 
“We get more jobs and less greenhouse gas,” says Robinson. “Its pretty hard to beat that deal. I’d like to send out the first cheque the day that we start collecting the fee.”
 
Dr. David Robinson and the Green Party are on a mission to bring honesty, integrity and smart policy to Queen’s Park.
 
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