Shortly after Greenpeace Canada launched a lawsuit against the Ontario government for the cancellation of the Cap & Trade program, the provincial government posted the Cap & Trade Cancellation Act on the Environmental Registry for a 30-day public commenting period.
Greenpeace stated that the Ontario government violated the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) by failing to hold public consultation on the cancellation of the province's Cap & Trade program. The EBR is unique to Ontario and states that citizens have the right to a 30-day consultation period for environmental regulations and legislation.
Previously, the government stated that campaigning on the cancellation of the program and the election was sufficient consultation and therefore did not need to undergo the formal consultation period on the registry. However, on September 11th they posted the Act for public comments until October 11th.
The passing of the Act (Bill 4) was expected to be the priority of the Ontario legislature when it reconvenes on September 24th. With the Act now under public consultation, the passing of the bill is expected to be delayed until after the October 11th deadline.
This commenting period provides an opportunity for those impacted by the abrupt cancellation of Cap & Trade in Ontario to provide comments on issues such as compensation, loss of investments, lost funding opportunities etc.
ClearBlue is supporting entities with the submission of comments to the EBR. Comments are to be submitted directly on the registry:
https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/013-3738