The warning was contained in an Environment Canada-sponsored report by the National Round Table on the Environment. Unless the government clearly communicates a new greenhouse-gas price schedule well in advance, the report said, it risks serious economic dislocation because people will not be well prepared.

The interim report can be found here. (pdf)

By showing emissions costs and letting industry prepare for the new environmental rules and penalties, Ottawa would reduce the chance of companies and provinces making bad investment decisions, which would further increase operating costs and severely damage the economy.

The report was commissioned by Environment Minister John Baird, who had asked the round table to advise him on how to realize the Conservative government’s target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60 per cent by 2050.