Elections
Do you accept the evidence of human-caused global warming? If so, what policy measures do you support to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? If not, why not?
Responses to the question: "Do you accept the evidence of human-caused global warming? If so, what policy measures do you support to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? If not, why not?"
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15 Candidate Responses (top)
| Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Barry Spruce | No | Freedom Party is not convinced that humans are the main cause of so called Global Warming, which now is being changed to Climate Change due the fact that the earth is cooling more than warming. This is one of those idealistic beliefs that is difficult to change despite the facts that there is no solid indisputable evidence that can support either pro or con of the Global Warming agenda. Freedom Party certainly would support innovation and technology that will help reduce the overall emissions and pollution in general that impact our future for generations. Carbon tax schemes are about replacing revenue that governments know they will lose once Hydrocarbons decline in usage, as the governments takes huge revenue from taxes on Fuel. This is why technologies have been slow to come to the market as large government and large Oil & Gas companies are in no hurry to offset the current revenue streams. The Global Warming agenda is the excuse to convince the public that Carbon taxes will be needed. The UN Agenda 21 program is a real threat to how our future will be impacted, and Freedom Party will help to expose how this will impact families in all areas. The Ontario Green Energy act is a good example of how Agenda 21 has impacted the province by driving up the cost of energy. For some further insight on the Global Warming confusion I would encourage you to see this article.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/18319-obama-s-alarmist-climate-report-debunked-by-scientists |
| Raymond Dartsch | Yes | Yes. Since most oil pumped is used for transportation, see my responses to LRT, GO transit, walking/cycling and land use, above. We also need a massive retrofitting of built structures in Ontario to make every building in the province a "Green" building, instead of building any more hydro infrastructure.
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| Ted McMeekin | Yes | 28 per cent of all insurance claims are paid out in response to catastrophic weather events. This will only increase if we don't take dramatic steps to reduce GHG emissions.
At McMaster's MARC, research continues to enhance the viability of electric powered cars. Our government has been proud to support this. We must continue to invest more in public transit, versus building major superhighways like the Mid-Pen highway, which would only serve to encourage more reliance of gas powered vehicles, rip apart prime agricultural land and delay progress in areas that help our earth rather than smother our earth. We have proposed a 10-year, $29 billion plan to improve transit across the province, including $15 billion alone for the GTHA. The elimination of coal fired generation plans is a perfect example of how our government is tackling the real challenges of climate change, rather than passing the buck onto future generations. Former US VP Al Gore, a well-known climate advocate, said Ontario has led the way with its plan to eliminate coal. Closing the coal power plants was the largest climate change action ever taken in North America. A greenbelt must not only run around cities, but through cities. Our platform speaks to working with municipalities to promote urban forestry and plant 50 million trees province-wide. An additional policy measure our government recently introduced was the Greener Diesel mandate that came into effect April 1. The new regulations require at least 2 per cent biodiesel be blended into petroleum diesel. This new policy will result in an average of at least 4 per cent biofuel blend into regular diesel by 2017, achieving a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by about 600,000 tonnes per year by that point. |
| Hamilton Centre | ||
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Bob Mann | Yes | Yes, the scientific evidence is undeniable. This is a global problem and requires centralized social planning, socialism. Short of that there should be very rigid and enforced environmental controls, not programs that allow the wealthy corporations to purchase “footprints” or other nonsense. |
| Donna Tiqui-Shebib | Yes | Yes, and as such, I believe that it is our responsibility to address the causes of global warming, in collaboration with industry, and through engaging citizens to do their part. Before the opposition precipitated the election, the Ministry of Environment was in the midst of consultations on developing a GHG reduction program. If given another mandate, an Ontario Liberal government will complete consultations with industry, environmental groups, and interested stakeholders to ensure that Ontario adopts an effective GHG emissions reduction program that strikes the right balance for affected sectors.
In addition, Ontario Liberals are the only party to speak to climate change, and commit to meeting our climate change targets in our platform this election. In the absence of meaningful action at the federal level, Ontario will continue to take the lead, building on our historic closure of dirty coal-fired power plants. We will meet our 2014 and 2020 Greenhouse Gas Emission targets through a variety of measures, including investing in better transit, ensuring new buildings are as energy efficient as possible, implementing new rules for clean bio-diesel that are the toughest in Canada, and helping big industry reduce their reliance on coal. |
| John Vail | Maybe | Thanks for the questions but in my opinion they are better directed to municipal candidates as the questions relate directly to municipal issues and not to provincial issues which are jobs, the provincial economy, the provincial deficit, provincial debt reduction, and lower provincial taxes |
| Peter Ormond | Yes | I do believe in climate change, and the anthropogenic impacts of man. I've attended several of United Nations conferences on Climate Change as a delegate of the Climate Action Network and also as a media person.
We know the measures. Live locally. Invest in local business. Simplify. Go low-tech. Eat less meat. Eat lower on the food chain. Buy less stuff. Buy local. Fly less or not at all. Don't drive. They're all simple. However, the key is to understand the cumulative impact of small measures by many. We know all of this stuff, but just have to start acting on it. Kinda like voting Green. As fuel prices rise, efficiency is necessary for companies to stay open. Mass transit, more efficient homes, distributed energy throughout our communities and a deep rethink and revitalization of our energy system are required. The transformation is inevitable. The question really is: "how long do we want to resist it"? I'd be embracing Green with both arms. And with my vote. |
| Hamilton East-Stoney Creek | ||
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Paul Miller | Yes | Yes. The Ontario NDP accepts and supports the consensus in the scientific community regarding human-caused global warming. We know that serious action is needed to tackle climate change now. Failure to act will jeopardize our well-being and the future of the generations that follow us. That's why the Ontario NDP has pushed the Liberal government to join Quebec in putting a price on carbon emissions via a cap-and-trade system. This would help Ontario reach its reduction target. Legislators have the power and responsibility to lead efforts to combat climate change.
A NDP government would legislate a cap-and-trade program for Ontario and improve Ontario's greenhouse gas emission target by five per cent, reducing emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. We would re-affirm Ontario's commitment to bringing emissions to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. Unfortunately, the Liberals have failed to take climate change seriously. Kathleen Wynne's plan will only take Ontario about half way to meeting the 2020 targets that the Liberals themselves set. Ontario's Environmental Commissioner recently concluded that "in the absence of a renewed effort, the [Liberal] government is failing our future." This province needs decisive action to tackle climate change, not more broken promises from the Liberals. |
| Hamilton Mountain | ||
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Greg Lenko | Yes | Humans are definitely partially responsible for climate change. While there is evidence that suggests climate change is cyclical there is also evidence indicating that since the industrial revolution humans have sped up the cycle which we are experiencing the effects of now and will continue to experience and speed up if more isn't done to offset the effects we are having locally and globally. The Green Party seems to be the ONLY party addressing climate change even though in recent weeks the South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu came to Canada to speak about it and the US Environmental Protection Agency unveiled new plans in which the US will address climate change. |
| Hans Wienhold | No | The whole AGW project is nothing more than a massive hoax perpetrated by the clingers-on to the fully discredited central planning model of economic and social organization. (I.E. Communism.)
Therefore, I do not support any policies to reduce greenhouse gases. Furthermore, even if it were true that man made CO2 emissions are causing the planet to heat up, it's by no means certain that the results would be catastrophic. They might even be beneficial. For example, plant life is known to thrive in a CO2 rich environment. Finally, the notion that a bunch of conniving politicians and their cronies could be trusted to successfully engineer an optimal climate for the planet is simply laughable. They can't even properly fix the roads. |
| Monique Taylor | Yes | Yes. The Ontario NDP accepts and supports the consensus in the scientific community regarding human-caused global warming. We know that serious action is needed to tackle climate change now. Failure to act will jeopardize our well-being and the future of the generations that follow us. That's why the Ontario NDP has pushed the Liberal government to join Quebec in putting a price on carbon emissions via a cap-and-trade system. This would help Ontario reach its reduction target. Legislators have the power and responsibility to lead efforts to combat climate change.
An NDP government would legislate a cap-and-trade program for Ontario and improve Ontario's greenhouse gas emission target by five per cent, reducing emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. We would re-affirm Ontario's commitment to bringing emissions to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. Unfortunately, the Liberals have failed to take climate change seriously. Kathleen Wynne's plan will only take Ontario about half way to meeting the 2020 targets that the Liberals themselves set. Ontario's Environmental Commissioner recently concluded that "in the absence of a renewed effort, the [Liberal] government is failing our future." This province needs decisive action to tackle climate change, not more broken promises from the Liberals. |
| Niagara West-Glanbrook | ||
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Basia Krzyzanowski | Yes | I do believe in climate change, and the anthropogenic impacts of man. I've attended several of United Nations conferences on Climate Change as a delegate of the Climate Action Network and also as a media person.
We know the measures. Live locally. Invest in local business. Simplify. Go low-tech. Eat less meat. Eat lower on the food chain. Buy less stuff. Buy local. Fly less or not at all. Don't drive. They're all simple. However, the key is to understand the cumulative impact of small measures by many. We know all of this stuff, but just have to start acting on it. Kinda like voting Green. As fuel prices rise, efficiency is necessary for companies to stay open. Mass transit, more efficient homes, distributed energy throughout our communities and a deep rethink and revitalization of our energy system are required. The transformation is inevitable. The question really is: "how long do we want to resist it"? I'd be embracing Green with both arms. And with my vote. |
| Geoff Peacock | Maybe | In this election, Freedom Party candidates are focused on
two things: restoring trust in government by balancing the budget without massive job cuts, and restoring affordable electricity by pulling the plug on already-existing, over-priced, Liberal green energy deals (without a penalty). Our position is that there should be no new spending unless and until the budget is balanced. You may consider this my reply to all of the questions in your questionnaire. |
| Stefanos Keratopis | No | My answer to all of these questions are no. However, that does not mean these things should not be done. I just do not think government should be doing them. I am opposed to all forms of government monopolies.
With the province having a $295 Billion debt is it really a smart thing to commit itself to large scale projects and more massive spending and more unsustainable tax increases? We need to reduce the size of government, sell off all government monopolies such as the LCBO/OLG and use that money to reduce the provincial debt, invest in restoring Ontarians freedoms and get government out of the way of business and REMOVE ALL red tape so they can create jobs. Please visit https://libertarian.on.ca/platform to see our current platform. Vote Libertarian Party, The Party Of Choice. |
| Tim Hudak | Maybe | Thank you very much for your letter. We appreciate the opportunity to listen to your priorities for Ontario. We share your commitment to Ontario's future and believe that with more and better jobs, we can do what's necessary to bring about the change Ontario needs.
I'm excited about our Million Jobs Plan-a plan to bring jobs back to Ontario, stop overspending, balance the budget and keep our debt from growing. Our plan relies on the notion that government should be smaller, but what it does, it does better. Our priorities for this election can be found at www.millionjobsplan.com We need to face our challenges honestly and compassionately. It won't be easy, but it can be done and it will be worth it. I know we can build a previously unimagined Ontario, but it's going to take some courage and a willingness to challenge the failed status quo. That's what our Ontario PC Million Jobs Plan delivers. We are asking government to tighten its belt, the way everyday Ontarians have, so that one million men and women out of work will have a shot at solid, good-paying jobs. We've got a job to do. It's time to get Ontario working better. |
Response Summary (top)
| Brief Response | Count | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 9 | 60.0% |
| No | 3 | 20.0% |
| Maybe | 3 | 20.0% |
15 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)
| Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alex Johnstone | ||
| Donna Skelly | ||
| Glenn Langton | ||
| Hamilton Centre | ||
| Andrea Horwath | ||
| Peter Melanson | ||
| Hamilton East-Stoney Creek | ||
| Britney Anne Johnston | ||
| David Brown | ||
| Greg Zink | ||
| Ivan Luksic | ||
| Mark Burnison | ||
| Hamilton Mountain | ||
| Albert Marshall | ||
| Brian Goodwin | ||
| Javid Mirza | ||
| Niagara West-Glanbrook | ||
| Brian McCormack | ||
| David Mossey | ||
