Subject
The impact of Ontario's decision to adopt a cap-and-trade system.
Significance
The Ontario provincial government will introduce a cap-and-trade system in the province by joining Quebec and California's carbon-trading market. Ontario is Canada's fourth province to implement a form of carbon-pricing; once it is in place, jurisdictions responsible for 80% of Canada's emissions will have some kind of carbon pricing. The joint carbon market with Quebec will also cover more than half of the Canadian population.
Impacts
The joint system may facilitate Californian companies' entry into the Canadian market.
Success in raising money through the system may encourage other cash-strapped US states to join.
Support for climate change policies could become a wedge issue in the federal elections in October, to Harper's detriment.