PCs keep their heads in the sand on climate change

May 13, 2019

TORONTO — Mike Schreiner released the following statement after the PC government voted down an opposition motion to declare a climate emergency:

“Today the Ford government refused to take even a symbolic position on the urgency of the climate crisis, proving unequivocally that they want to be on the wrong side of history.

If a year of sustained attacks on climate action weren’t enough, the government cannot even be bothered to acknowledge the emergency we face.

In doing so, the government has passed up an opportunity to give future generations hope, to show they understand the urgency of the situation we face.

To the tens of thousands of Ontario youth who have been gathering en masse every Friday to beg for a future, the government has said NO.

Instead, the government continues to waste taxpayer money sabotaging climate action, while defending a plan that no independent analysts have said will meet Ontario’s climate obligations.

Failure to act on a climate crisis that is costing billions today and could cost Canada $91 billion annually by mid-century removes any claim this government has to fiscal responsibility.

Closing Ontario to the fast growing global clean economy removes any notion that this government is open for business and job creation.

More importantly, failure to act means abandoning our responsibility to our children and grandchildren to do everything we can to leave them a liveable planet.”

-30-