The Ontario Chamber of Commerce, with the support of the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce, and other Chambers across the province, sent an open letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne calling on the government to take action through Budget 2017 to contain the costs of the cap and trade system to better support Ontario’s business community.

“With all the other increasing costs to businesses, the provincial government were quick to add the cap and trade without any regard to what this added cost would mean to businesses,” said Patti Carr, Vice President of Policy and Communications, North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce. “Along with the OCC, we are calling on the Premier to take action and support our businesses and local economy.”

The OCC has identified four priority actions that would assist the business community to better navigate the cap and trade system:
1. Prioritize the allocation of cap and trade revenue for businesses, in addition to other efforts to offset the cost of cap and trade. Making the process to access resources as quickly as possible will be important, especially for smaller businesses who have little time or money to dedicate to program applications.
2. Prioritize innovation funding. Many Ontario businesses have already taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Achieving further reductions could be difficult and will often require the implementation of new technologies.
3. Create greater post-2020 design certainty. Post-2020 certainty is important for businesses looking to make long-term investments in Ontario.
4. Monitor and respond to regional impacts. To ensure the strategic allocation of cap and trade revenues, government should conduct a regional analysis of the impacts.

The letter is aimed at impacting government policy in Budget 2017, and builds on the OCC’s meetings with senior government officials.

These meetings have emphasized the need to ensure Ontario’s businesses remain competitive and confident in the face of a changing economy.

Filed under: Cap and Trade, North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce