Queens Park - Niagara West Glanbrook MPP Tim Hudak is warning the Liberal Cap and Trade scheme will hit Niagara families and businesses very hard, considering many are already struggling to pay their bills.
Responding to the Liberals’ climate plan that was publicized Monday and indicates the Premier plans to eliminate natural gas for home heating and create an electric car mandate in the province, Hudak says the 76 per cent of Ontarians who use natural gas for home heating will have to convert their home’s heating system to electricity at a cost of about $4,500, and then face an additional $2,000 to $3,000 in additional heating costs, referring to numbers released by Union Gas and Enbridge.
“The government is promising incentives for conversion from natural gas, but let’s not forget where that incentive money will come from,” said Hudak. “The government will use money raised through higher natural gas bills to force people on to a more expensive source of energy.”
Business in Ontario will suffer under this cap and trade scheme as well, said Hudak, pointing out the Liberals have been promising and encouraging the expansion of natural gas use, and many greenhouses, manufacturing plants and other businesses use a combination of hydro and gas to heat their facilities. Natural gas is the most reliable, affordable and abundant energy source for consumers, added Hudak, and if it is used responsibly can benefit Ontarians economically and environmentally.
The push to put more electric cars on the road is just as disastrous for the economy, pointed out Hudak, noting the auto industry in Ontario, facing ever increasing costs to do business here, do not actually build electric cars in the province and will likely leave Ontario for greener pastures if they can no longer sell the cars they do make.
“My constituents in Niagara West – Glanbrook live in small communities, with large rural areas, and simply can’t rely on an electric car with limited range for their daily driving,” said Hudak. “It’s nice to be green – but we need to be realistic as well.”
“The plan just confirms that the Liberal government and Premier Wynne have no understanding of how people really live and are basing decisions on activism rather than reality,” said Hudak. “This is a government that’s run out of real ideas.”