There are now 20 chambers of commerce in Ontario calling on the government to hold off on implementing its cap and trade plan. The new program is part of the government's action on climate change.
President and CEO of the Windsor-Essex County Regional Chamber of Commerce Matt Marchand says there's now more worry about the costs tied to cap and trade.
"A lot of my chamber network colleagues across Ontario, now some of the numbers are coming in as to what the cost will be and there's a lot of concern," says Marchand. "Our ability to attract and retain jobs in our region is certaily at risk."
Marchand says the costs of cap and trade will likely take many by surprise.
"This carbon tax is going to take effect January 1, so people haven't seen it yet," says Marchand. "We've seen some of the numbers. We saw the average greenhouse operator is going to be paying another $250,000 a year."
Cap and trade is set to be implemented on January 1, 2017. In December, the Windsor-Essex chamber and the Leamington chamber asked for a deferral -- highlighting the costs greenhouse operations would face under the new cap and trade program.
Marchand says the chamber has yet to be provided with a sector by sector by sector economic analysis of cap and trade despite repeated requests.