Ontario is the most regulated province in Canada and it’s about to get worse by Shirley Dolan

Shirley Dolan

Two news articles were emailed to me this week. They are related in that they both speak about the burden of over-regulation in Ontario.

The first article speaks about the Wynne government’s blueprint to change everything about how we use energy, by replacing gas burning vehicles with electric or hybrid cars and setting up an “ultra-low carbon utility” to make this and other carbon emission reduction programs happen. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-to-create-agency-to-oversee-climate-change-goals-draft-plan-shows/article29781337/?page=all

If this weren’t enough to send shivers up your spine, the Ontario government, in their wisdom, also want to, according to the Globe and Mail “phase out the use of natural gas for heating”. The article goes on to say that nearly 80 per cent of homeowners and businesses choose to use natural gas, because it is an affordable and reliable source of heat. Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton said, “We know that it’s going to cost each household $3,000 more each year to switch from natural gas to electricity.”

More regulation and control over our lives. Philip Cross, formerly Chief Economic Analyst at Statistics Canada, observed that Ontario is the most highly regulated province in Canada, with some 380,000 regulations at present, twice as many as the next province. Cross points out that these regulations are a form of tax, as people have to spend time and money (or forego profitable activities) to comply. See more at http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/philip-cross-ontarios-staggering-380000-regulations-are-warping-the-way-business-runs.