Mike Schreiner

Premier Doug Ford ratcheted up his rhetoric on Ottawa's climate change plan on Monday, January 21, 2019, warning that the carbon tax will plunge the country into recession — a claim disputed by experts and the federal government.

Ontario Environment Minister Rod Phillips unveiled a $500 million plan on Thursday that promised to cut the province's carbon pollution in line with Canada's obligations under the Paris climate agreement, but offered few details about how it would actually achieve these reductions.

Mike Schreiner, who became the first Green Ontario legislator after winning the seat for Guelph in the June election, said that "the Ford government is on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of the electorate" given that a majority of votes cast in that election were for parties (the Liberals, New Democrats, Greens) which included pollution pricing in their platforms.

Protesters lingered overnight outside the Ontario legislature after they were barred from observing a rare midnight sitting meant to speed up the passage of a controversial bill to cut Toronto's city council nearly in half.