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“Natural gas will continue to play a critical role in the energy mix in Ontario in the future, and beyond that you’ll have to wait to see the details,” said Murray.

“But no, we’re not banning natural gas or taking it away from people.”

The Liberals have also said costs to consumers will be modest, though it has warned its cap-and-trade plan, which is part of the larger climate changes strategy, will add four cents a litre to the price of gas. But Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said those costs will be offset in other ways.

“Our 2016 budget provides that cap-and-trade will take $24 per year off of residential bills and on average will not cost any increase,” said Chiarelli.

That effort is already well underway, with legislation to enact cap-and-trade and add Ontario to Quebec and California’s established carbon-credit market expected to pass before the summer recess.

Murray responded to reporters’ questions about the accuracy of the leaked draft with a glib “nope” before hinting at many points it raises. He said the government has consulted widely, especially with the nine largest-emitting industries.

But the minister also noted, in the face of rising temperatures and increasing climate chaos, we all must be prepared to change “the nature of how we heat and cool our homes, the technology in our vehicles.”

“The pace of change is going to be enormous, and what I’ve tried to say is we’re all gonna have to step up,” he said. “I am going to have to provide leadership that is more than has been asked of environment ministers in the past. We’re simply dealing with a more complex global economy, a shared economy, a low-carbon economy; China emerging as a competitor in a way it never has been before, and in buildings, in transportation, in aerospace, all of these areas are going to go through major technology changes, as they did in the information/technology revolution.”