Premier Doug Ford is warning Ontario will slide into recession if the federal government forces a carbon tax on the province, prompting critics to question his logic. In a luncheon speech to the Economic Club of Canada, the premier said Monday the tax would be a “disaster” because “there are already warning signs on the horizon.”“The risk of a carbon tax recession is very, very real,” added Ford, who did not take questions after the speech and has not held a news conference since the week before Christmas. Environment Minister Rod Phillips defended Ford’s use of the word recession, saying it is “entirely appropriate.”“There are negative economic consequences when you start over-taxing Ontarians,” he told reporters.New Democrat MPP Peter Tabuns said Ford is “making things up” and his use of the word recession risks the province’s business environment at a time when Ontario’s credit rating has already been downgraded.“We wouldn’t even be talking about a federal carbon tax had Doug Ford not ripped up the cap-and-trade market agreement Ontario already had — one that certainly didn’t put Ontario into a recession,” Tabuns (Toronto Danforth) added in a statement.Green Leader Mike Schreiner said he was not a fan of the previous Liberal government’s cap-and-trade program with Quebec and California, preferring a carbon fee and dividend model, but noted “Ontario had its lowest unemployment rate in 18 years with pollution pricing in place.”The scrapped cap and trade effort raised $1.9 billion from polluting industries for initiatives to fight climate change. A recession is typically described as two consecutive quarters of a shrinking economy.Under the federal plan, the average Ontario household will pay $244 more annually on gasoline, natural gas and home heating oil, but will receive $300 back in rebates for a net gain of $56 a year, ba ...
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