Energy

Doug Ford Deep-Sixing Ontario’s Green Energy Act

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Ontario’s new Conservative government is putting a speedy end to a green energy program initiated by the former Liberal government. As CTV News reports, the Doug Ford government introduced a bill on Thursday that will deep-six the Green Energy Act.

Critics said the program contributed virtually nothing to the province’s energy needs while pushing up the cost of electricity and costing billions of dollars. The preponderance of green energy jobs promised by the act never materialized either.

The Green Energy Act saw the taxpayer subsidy of solar and wind power facilities.

The legislation is the fulfillment of a campaign promise by Ford and just another in a series of legislative maneuvers by the Ontario government to cut regulations and environmental programs.

Infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton told the Ontario legislature that the end of the Green Energy Act will enable municipalities across the province to decide for themselves whether they choose to pursue renewable energy programs and will not be forced by the provincial government to do so.

“They didn’t want these wind and solar farms,” McNaughton said. “The people of Ontario should always have the final say on what gets built in their communities.”

The Ford government has already canceled 758 renewable energy contracts signed by the Liberals. Ontario has some of the highest electricity rates in North America and its cost was a major issue in the recent provincial election that saw the Conservatives win a landslide majority.

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