Windsor city projects may be affected by cancelled cap-and-trade program

Windsor stands to lose millions of dollars in funding from the province now that Ontario has decided to cut cap-and-trade under the new Doug Ford government, according to Citizens Environment Alliance.

The non-profit organization advocates for environment protection and raises public knowledge of human impact on ecosystems. Its executive director, Derek Coronado, says aside from city programs being affected, the loss of funding could hurt Windsor's ability to prevent flooding.

"That is one of the big impacts of climate change, certainly flooding and there was cap-and-trade funding that could have been applied by municipalities to help with those issues as well," he said.

The cap-and-trade program was intended to generate funds to help municipalities pay for projects to fight climate change.

With these cuts happening, Windsor's city treasurer Joe Mancina couldn't say if it'll change what the city has planned.

Some of the items on the wish list are retrofitting social housing units to make them more energy efficient and moving toward electric vehicles for its corporate fleet.

"The fact that those programs are there and they provide incentives for being able to take advantage of these types of program opportunities certainly are appealing, and when they're not available it certainly poses a difficult challenge," said Mancina.

The city has already received $1.6 million for various projects aimed at improving cycling in Windsor, such bike lane improvements. Lori Newton, executive director of Bike Windsor Essex, is upset the money won't be available in the future.

"Our organization is reaching out to people in the city, people across the region to reach out to their MPPs and encourage them to please remember to support cycling and encourage them to keep cycling as an item as they're looking at their budgets," she said.

Coronado, Newton and Mancina are hoping proceeds from a carbon tax the federal government is promising to implement will be used to replace the lost provincial money.