Ontario has ended its cap-and-trade alliance with Quebec and California
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

There’s been a political climate change — and Ontario has now officially ended its cap-and-trade alliance with Quebec and California.The Progressive Conservatives on Wednesday made good on their campaign pledge to exit the climate-change pact with the passage of cancellation legislation.“Ontario’s cap-and-trade carbon tax era is officially over,� Environment Minister Rod Phillips told reporters at Queen’s Park after the Tories scrapped the previous Liberal government’s accord.Phillips noted that the province has already lowered gas prices and took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s forthcoming federal carbon-tax-and-dividend plan.Because Ontario no longer has its own carbon-pricing scheme, it will be forced into the federal “backstop,� though the province is spending up to $30 million to challenge the constitutionality of that in court.“When the prime minister talks about punishing polluters … he’s really talking about punishing people who drive to work every day. He’s not talking about polluters, he’s talking about commuters,� the minister said.“Clearly, the federal government’s out of touch with the day-to-day reality of Ontarians’ lives. Many of them need their vehicles and pretending they don’t, and pretending everybody can take the subway, is just not going to wash.�The Tories will unveil their own plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions next month. In the meantime, about $1 billion in cap-and-trade proceeds collected under the Liberal program will go toward winding down energy-conservation programs and other environmental initiatives.Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers said it was a “sad day for Ontario� that the government voted against Green Leader Mike Schreiner’s motion for an emergency climate-change debate, but voted for a motion from PC MPP Jeremy Roberts — who sported Dracula fangs — to wear co ...