NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is promising that if her party wins Ontario's next election, the province will commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions at standards in line with international targets.
Horwath told party members attending a policy convention in her hometown of Hamilton, Ont., on Saturday that an NDP government would reduce Ontario's emissions by at least 50 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.
She said an NDP government would further promise to achieve net-zero emissions in the province by the year 2050, in what she said marks a stark contrast to Premier Doug Ford's approach to climate change.
"Most of us, here in Ontario and around the world, understand the magnitude of the challenge we're facing -- and that we've run out of runway," Horwath said during a keynote speech."Yet Doug Ford does not. The climate crisis is not his priority, but it's mine. It's yours.”
Horwath laid out the plan -- dubbed the Green New Democratic Deal -- for 1,500 people attending the party's first policy gathering since becoming the province's official Opposition in last year's election. She said the targets align with the most ambitious aspects of the Paris Agreement, and stressed that as Canada's largest province Ontario has to do its share to fight climate change.
The 27-page policy document provides no costing for the measures it discusses.
The party says it would encourage homeowners and businesses to participate in a building retrofit program to cut emissions.It would also incorporate some type of carbon pricing, but does not provide details on that system or its cost.
Delegates at the Hamilton convention voted 84 per cent in favour of Horwath's continuing on as party leader.
