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Pay now or 13 to 15 times more in the future? What would you choose?
Climate change is hitting our wallets hard. While inflation, bank rates, and trade tariffs dominate headlines, the massive costs of climate damage often go ignored. Yet municipalities are shouldering 70 per cent of damage costs and that trickles down to us.
For example, homeowners in Newmarket now pay an extra $96 in property taxes, in Aurora $102, and in East Gwillimbury $136 annually, with these fees expected to rise over the next decade. Why? To address aging infrastructure and the growing impacts of extreme weather.
Despite spending $2.1 billion provincially between 2018 and 2021 and $3.8 billion federally on flood protection in Toronto, this year’s July and August flooding within the GTA and southern Ontario caused over $1 billion dollars in damages alone. Poor planning, like building on watersheds and conservation lands, worsens the problem. Ontario’s weak climate policies could cost taxpayers $4.1 billion annually. Smarter planning could slash that cost by three quarters.
Unfortunately, instead of taking action as the Auditor General's report suggests, Ontario spent $7 million fighting the federal carbon pricing, cut $2 billion from climate programs, $230 million in cancelled green energy projects and subsidized Enbridge Gas with over $250 million a year, despite the risk of it becoming a wasted investment. Meanwhile, $12 billion is being funnelled into highways like the 413 and Bradford Bypass, while less environmentally damaging alternatives like the 905 area transit projects aren't on the radar.
Nationally, the federal government has invested $100 billion in climate action since 2015. Yet without tackling major emitters like oil and gas or protecting greenspaces that absorb flood waters, it won’t be enough. While about 17 per cent of land and water is protected now federally, Ontario’s is 10.9 per cent that was already protected pre-2018 and no plans for significant increases; Greenbelt highways and subsequent development will further reduce this.
The cost of inaction is staggering. Every dollar spent fighting climate change today saves $13 to $15 tomorrow. It’s not just about the environment; it’s about protecting homes, communities, and our financial future.
What can you do? Vote for candidates who take climate change seriously and have a plan to address it. The cost of inaction of climate change is too great to ignore, and will only worsen affordability for Ontarians.
Kyle Mennie
Member of the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario, York Region Chapter
