FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 3, 2019
Ontario Stands Up For Patients by Opposing Costly Federal Carbon Tax on Hospitals
QUEEN’S PARK — Ontario’s government is fighting against increased costs to public institutions caused by the burdensome federal carbon tax.
Rod Phillips, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, and Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, were at Halton Healthcare – Milton District Hospital today to talk about how the federal government’s carbon tax will impact local hospitals by increasing heating costs. Costs to Ontario’s community hospitals will increase to $27,200,000.00 by 2022.
“The carbon tax will have a direct impact on patients here in the City of Brantford and Brant County and make life more unaffordable,” said Will Bouma, Member of Provincial Parliament for Brantford-Brant. “Hospitals in Ontario are under enormous pressure. Diverting resources to cover rising heating costs instead of on reducing wait times and ending hallway health care is not the right solution for Ontarians.”
For $27.2 million, Ontario could offer an additional 104,615 MRI operating hours providing scans for an additional 157,000 patients. This amount of money could also fund over 3,300 pacemaker implantations.
“Hospitals should be able to focus their resources on providing the quality, patient-centred care that Ontarians expect and deserve, and not have to deal with unnecessary rising operational costs, said Elliott. “Our government is committed to ensuring money is being directed to front-line services – where it belongs – to improve patient experience, and provide better and connected care.”
The Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan considers our province’s specific priorities, challenges and opportunities, and commits to reducing our emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, a target that aligns with the Federal Government’s Paris commitments, without imposing a carbon tax on the vulnerable groups in our province. Through the efforts of individuals and industry, Ontario is already most of the way to this target, with the province’s emissions down 22 per cent since 2005.
“Our plan serves as proof that you can both oppose a carbon tax and continue to do more to fight climate change – you don’t have to choose,” concluded Minister Phillips. “A carbon tax isn’t the only way to fight climate change. Ontario deserves both a healthy environment and a healthy economy.”
The government remains committed to fighting the federal government’s plan to impose a carbon tax on the people of Ontario.
Quick Facts
• The Financial Accountability Office has projected that the federal carbon tax will cost the average Ontario household $648 a year by 2022. • The federal carbon tax on fuels came into effect on April 1, 2019. It will increase the price of gasoline in Ontario by 4.4 cents per litre. This will rise to 6.6 cents in 2020, 8.8 cents in 2021, and 11.1 cents per litre in April 2022. • The federal carbon tax will increase the price of natural gas in Ontario by 3.9 cents per cubic metre. This increase will rise to 5.9 cents in 2020, 7.8 cents in 2021, and 9.8 cents per cubic metre in April 2022. • The federal carbon tax will increase the price of diesel by 5.4 cents per litre in 2019, rising to 13.4 cents by 2022.
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For more information, contact MPP Will Bouma at 519-759-0361 or will.bouma@pc.ola.org