Incoming Premier of Ontario, Canada, Doug Ford, pledges to scrap the province's cap and trade program. Ford's election ends 15 years of Liberal Party rule-Bloomberg

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6/7/18, "Ford's Conservatives Win Ontario Vote on Populist Message," Bloomberg, Josh Wingrove

(subhead): "Carbon policy"

"[Ontario, Canada Premier-elect Doug] Ford also pledged to scrap the province’s cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, setting up a showdown with Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has vowed to ensure every Canadian province adopts some form of carbon tax. Ford also wants to get rid of the chief executive officer of Hydro One Ltd., the provincial utility that was sold to investors through an initial public offering in 2015. It’s not clear a premier has the power to do that as the government holds a 47 percent stake.... 

Doug Ford, whose populist message of smaller government and tax cuts drew comparisons to Donald Trump, will be the next premier of Canada’s most populous province and economic engine.

Ford’s Progressive Conservatives won 76 of Ontario’s 124 districts in Thursday’s election, according to Elections Ontario. His decisive win ends 15 years of Liberal Party rule, and his majority government will be able to run the province without the support of another party.

Ford, 53, a former city councilor and brother of the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford, ran on a "For the People" platform of tax cuts for businesses and the middle class, along with lower prices for gasoline and electricity. While the tax cuts, a pledge to reduce government “waste,” and his plain-spoken tone evoked elements of Trump, there are key differences: immigration played virtually no role in the campaign, and first- and second-generation Canadians are core supporters of the Ford family’s campaigns.

In his victory speech near Toronto, a beaming Ford declared Ontario is “open for business,” pledging his government will usher in “an era of economic prosperity the likes of which Ontario has never seen before.”...

Ontario, home to some of Canada’s biggest companies and its financial services hub, is the largest sub-sovereign borrower in the world....

Ford’s main rival was New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath, 55, who pitched tax hikes on corporations and high earners to finance expanded social programs. The Conservatives and NDP were neck and neck in most polls based on popular support, though Ford’s backing was more widely spread across the province, leading to more seats. The NDP will now be the largest opposition party, with about 39 seats. The Green Party, meanwhile, picked up its first ever seat in the province."...





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