MPP Jim McDonell writes: On January 1st, 2017, life in Ontario will once again get more expensive as the new Liberal Cap and Trade tax is applied to all goods and services. The government has ordered that the tax be hidden in the cost of the product and not visible to the customer. Natural gas companies report that the tax will add up to $83 to your average annual bill.

In last week’s Auditor General’s report, she highlighted some disturbing facts about this new carbon tax, including that businesses will be buying $8 billion of carbon credits from California over the next 3 years and $2 billion a year after that. That’s the equivalent of 163,000 average Ontario salaries being removed from our economy, resulting in less than 20% of the benefiting emission cuts actually occurring in Ontario.

The Auditor also reported that this new tax will increase the household cost of electricity by 23% between 2017 and 2020. While the pricing of carbon is being mandated by our federal government, our PC Party had advocated for a simpler revenue-neutral carbon tax that should be introduced as part of a broader North American plan. Our Wynne Liberals rushed this new tax in with little oversight and will result in more lost jobs as our southern neighbours are not proceeding at this time, making our businesses less competitive.