QUEEN'S PARK — NDP Climate Crisis critic Peter Tabuns and Environment critic Ian Arthur released this statement in response to the Ontario Auditor General’s report of the Ford government's handling of the environment:
"The auditor general's report puts into stark terms the disturbing reality that Ontarians face under the Ford government: we have a premier dragging us backwards in the fight against the climate crisis. Doug Ford is willing to destroy the environment in his quest to do favour after favour for insiders.
Ford has tried to pave over the Greenbelt three times. He cancelled Ontario’s cap and trade program illegally, and his government continues to use the pandemic as cover to ram through laws and Ministerial Zoning Orders that attack environmental protections.
Ford refuses to reduce the emissions polluting our water and air, to protect our green spaces, wildlife and their habitats — and is now attacking the Conservation Authorities put in place to protect them.
Ford's willful ignorance about the imminent dangers of the climate crisis is already making all Ontarians less safe, and the consequences for future generations — our children and our grandchildren — will be unbearable if we don’t change course now.
The government must change its ways and take action to protect the environment and prevent the dangerous impacts of climate change."