TORONTO -- The release of Ontario's long-term strategy to fight climate change is being denounced by critics as containing little new information about the Liberal government's goals or how it plans to achieve them.
The Liberals say details will come in a five-year action plan and in rules and regulations for its planned cap-and-trade system, which will all come later.
Their long-term climate "master plan" highlights many measures the government has already taken, such as shutting down coal-fired plants, and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets it has already set.
The strategy broadly envisions a low-carbon economy, a carbon-neutral government sector, more energy efficient buildings and more electric vehicles on the roads.
NDP critic Peter Tabuns called the climate change strategy "a re-announcement of an announcement to come" and suggested the Liberals wanted to capitalize on the attention that Alberta's newly released climate change plan received.
Mike Schreiner, the leader of the Green Party of Ontario, says he didn't hear anything new in the announcement, but says at least they are "moving the conversation forward."
The province plans to achieve an 80-per-cent reduction in emissions over 1990 levels by 2050. In the new year, Ontario will detail its five-year "action plan" to achieve a 15-per-cent reduction in emissions over 1990 levels by 2020.
Consultations on the cap-and-trade rules and regulations should be finished by the spring and the first auction is expected in the first quarter of 2017, Environment Minister Glen Murray has said.
The province plans to link its carbon trade system with ones in California and Quebec, and estimates the plan could bring in $2 billion a year in revenue for the Ontario government.
Premier Kathleen Wynne said that some of the revenue from the cap-and-trade system will go toward mitigating added costs for consumers. She has previously said money raised through the system will be reinvested in green technology and green infrastructure.
