Doug Ford playing fast and loose with our climate future

September 13, 2023

GUELPH — Ontario Greens leader and MPP for Guelph, Mike Schreiner, released the following statement in response to the release of the Ontario Provincial Climate Change Impact Assessment.

“While we were all busy paying attention to Doug Ford’s $8.3 billion Greenbelt scandal, his government quietly released their long delayed Provincial Climate Change Impact Assessment.

It’s no surprise that Ford wanted to keep this report from seeing the light of day.
It paints a grim picture of Ontario’s climate future, and it’s a stark reminder that we need drastic climate action now.

But Doug Ford is headed in the opposite direction, ramping up costly fossil gas plants, gutting conservation authorities and paving over our farmlands, wetlands and the Greenbelt.

In 2019, I asked the Financial Accountability Officer to look into the cost of climate change to Ontario’s public infrastructure, because we need to know exactly how much Ford’s incompetence is costing us.

His response was damning – this decade alone, climate-fueled extreme weather is going to cost us $26.2 billion.

Ontario Greens have led the charge in pushing the Ford government to step up and take action.

Because Ontarians deserve better.

We’re continuing to push for a $2 billion-per-year Climate Adaptation Fund to prepare municipal and provincial infrastructure for the risky road ahead.

We’ll keep fighting for a permanent end to Ford’s Greenbelt giveaway and demanding investments in nature-based climate solutions.

The time for excuses has long passed. Now, it’s time to get to work.”

-30-