 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | Ontario now has a carbon tax on industry. What will Doug Ford's government do with the revenue? | | |  | Ontario's industrial carbon pricing system appllies to the biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions, including auto manufacturers, steel mills, cement makers, chemical plants and oil refineries. (Carlos Osorio/The Associated Press) | | | Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government expects to bring in more than $2 billion through a carbon tax on industrial emitters over the next eight years, CBC News has learned.
The provincial government hasn't said yet what it will do with the revenue. That's got everyone from corporate lobbyists to environmental groups calling on the province to clarify its plans for this new source of income.
Ontario is poised to start collecting what it calls "compliance payments" from the biggest industrial producers of greenhouse gas emissions, including auto manufacturers, steel mills, cement makers, chemical plants and oil refineries.
This marks the transition from the federal program for industrial carbon pricing that's been in place since 2019, imposed by Ottawa when the Ford government scrapped Ontario's cap-and-trade system.
Previously unpublished figures that the provincial government provided to CBC News show Ontario forecasts it will collect $131 million in compliance payments from industry in 2023, with the annual total estimated to hit $446 million in 2030.
Dennis Darby, president and CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, says the government should put the money back into the industries that pay the fees in ways that help them reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
"I think Ontario's got a great opportunity," said Darby in an interview. "If they do it right, this can be net beneficial to industry, but also of course net beneficial to the environment."
Jason Wang, senior analyst at the Pembina Institute, said the government should look at investing in new or emerging technologies, such as low-emission production of cement.
"Revenue from carbon pricing should be spent on clean economy initiatives," said Wang in an interview. | | | | | Golden Globes return after diversity scandal | | |  | (Chris Pizzello/Invision/The Associated Press) | | | | Ke Huy Quan poses with the award for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for the film Everything Everywhere All at Once at the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Tuesday. The awards made their post-scandal comeback after spending a year off the air. Read more here. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | A backcountry avalanche in southeastern British Columbia that killed an off-duty police officer and injured another comes at a time when Avalanche Canada says the snowpack across much of Western Canada is unusually weak. The not-for-profit organization based in Revelstoke, B.C., warned Sunday that lengthy periods of drought late into last year and cold weather starting in November have contributed to weak layers in B.C.'s snowpack, making it more vulnerable to avalanches. "Everywhere in British Columbia, every slope right now is suspect," said Grant Helgeson, a senior forecaster with Avalanche Canada. Nelson police identified the officer who died as Const. Wade Tittemore, 43, a married father of two who had been with the force for four years after moving from Calgary. The second officer, Const. Mathieu Nolet, 28, remains in critical condition in an intensive care unit. Read more here.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ruled that the families of Flight PS752 victims cannot seize certain properties or bank accounts on Canadian soil because the federal government considers those assets the property of the Islamic Republic of Iran protected under international law. Last year, the provincial court awarded $107 million, plus interest, to the families of five people who died when Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down the commercial plane three years ago, killing all 176 people aboard, including 85 Canadians and permanent residents. Ever since, lawyers representing the families have been looking to seize Iranian assets in Canada for compensation. The lawyers argued that Iran's rights to diplomatic immunity ended a decade ago when Canada expelled Iranian diplomats from the country. Read more on the decision here.
Canada and the United States are promising a new interview option for Nexus applicants in an effort to address a backlog of thousands of applications. The Nexus program, which eases the flow of people across the Canada-U.S. border, stalled when offices on both sides were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A dispute over legal protections for U.S. border officers operating in Canada caused a delay in the reopening of Nexus offices on this side of the border — resulting in a backlog of 300,000 applications. The Canada Border Services Agency said Tuesday said that the backlog has been reduced to roughly 100,000 applications but that the new option will be made available this spring to further reduce wait times. Read the full story here.
The RCMP and its watchdog body are at odds over whether a Mountie was justified in Tasering a veteran with a medical implant — a conflict critics say points to flaws in the process meant to keep Mounties accountable. After years of back-and-forth with the RCMP, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP has completed its investigation and is calling out what it sees as an unjustified, warrantless entry and premature use of a Taser. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki has rejected those findings, arguing her members' safety was at risk. Bruce Webb, the man at the centre of the case, said that he doesn't see the CRCC's decision to side with him as a victory. "Nothing is changing," he told CBC. Read the full story here.
P.E.I. families recently briefed on an insolvency trustee's proposal to compensate them for only some of the money they lost when prepaid funeral arrangement funds vanished are upset more isn't being done to help them. Money to fund dozens of prepaid funerals was supposed to be held in trust by the owner of Dawson Funeral Home Ltd. in Crapaud, P.E.I. But owner Lowell Oakes is now facing 66 fraud charges, which are still being dealt with in criminal court, as well as a number of claims in small claims court. His funeral home licence was revoked in March 2022, and he was also fined $10,000 at that time. The funeral home has been closed for a year now, and the premises are in the process of being sold to help pay off some of the company's debt. Insolvency trustees have told creditors that when all of the personal and corporate assets are liquidated, there will be enough money to cover only about one-third of their original investment. Read more on this story here.
If you're already stressed out about the progress you're making on your New Year's resolutions, you may want to try a new way of declaring your intentions for 2023: the In and Out list. It can include whatever you want, but many combine elements of objective-based resolutions with a broader range of trends or goals. Rachel Syme, a writer for The New Yorker magazine, says she isn't surprised to see In and Out lists put a twist on the classic New Year's resolution formula. "Resolutions don't really work. They're just this sort of idealized idea of a better self that you could be in the new year, and they quickly end by February. Whereas an In and Out list is a fun thinking [and] writing exercise about things that you like, don't like, energy you want to bring into the new year," she told The Sunday Magazine. Read more here.
Now here's some good news to start your Wednesday: If you visited Kalamalka Lake in Vernon, B.C., on Sunday, you may have seen a group of cold water dippers hacking away at the ice on the shoreline, axes swinging high above their bathing-suit-clad bodies. Members of the Vernon B.C. Lake Plunge Facebook group decided to spread some happiness by chipping a 10-metre smiley face into the ice. Once finished, the free-floating icy emoticon became a playground for the plungers to enjoy as warmer temperatures signalled the end of the ice-cold water swimming season. "Some people think we're nuts. That's OK," said group member and dipper Shanda Hill with a laugh. Read more and watch the video here. | | | FIRST PERSON | Using my new year's resolution to free my tree, and myself, from the bondage of colonization | When the light bulbs on Marina Commanda Westbrook’s pre-lit tree failed, she was determined to toss it out in January. But she found some valuable lessons in her Anishinaabe heritage that made her think otherwise. Read her column here. | | | | | | |  | Virus surges amid China's 'zero-COVID' reversal | What’s really happening inside China after the country reversed its "zero-COVID" policies, and why the virus appears to be spreading so quickly through the population.
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: January 11 | | | 1908: Grand Canyon National Monument is created with a proclamation by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It became a national park in 1919.
1922: Leonard Thompson, 14, becomes the first person to be injected with insulin to treat diabetes during a clinical test at the University of Toronto. The research team included Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip and J.J. Macleod.
1935: Aviator Amelia Earhart begins a two-day trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., that makes her the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland.
1995: A tentative deal is announced in the 103-day-old NHL players' lockout. Players ratified the contract two days later, after which Commissioner Gary Bettman announced a 48-game season starting on Jan. 20. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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