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It was introduced in July, but the final vote was delayed when an environmental group launched legal action against the Progressive Conservative government, alleging the province had flouted Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights by failing to hold public consultations on the issue.

The legal action will still move forward on allegations that the government also skipped mandatory consultations on a regulation related to the cancellation of cap and trade.

A spokeswoman for the environment minister said Wednesday the government was elected on a promise to eliminate cap and trade, but did not address Saxe’s analysis of the consultation results.

Photo by Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press files

“We heard loud and clear directly from Ontarians that they cannot afford cap and trade,” Emily Hogeveen said in an email. “While some advocate policies that will cost families, we will pursue balanced policies that address our environmental challenges, while not betraying the commitments we made to the people.”

She added the province sought input from the public, businesses and other stakeholders before releasing its own climate change plan in November. That plan proposes to use taxpayer dollars to spur private investment in clean technologies and create performance standards for large emitters.

Saxe said those who weighed in on the cap and trade decision expressed concerns about a number of issues.

“The loss of clean economy opportunities was the most common concern expressed in the submissions. Many were concerned that weakening Ontario’s climate policies would hurt investment in clean technology and risk long-term job creation in a low-carbon economy,” she wrote.