Carney Just Admitted the Liberal Climate Plan Failed

Timing, it is often said, is everything. The same applies to political announcements.

It is common for governments to release news they expect will be unpopular or embarrassing late on a Friday afternoon or immediately before a major holiday. The expectation is that a weekend or large-scale event will quickly divert citizens’ attention elsewhere.

Such was the case just before the Canada Day long weekend. Prime Minister Carney made comments that have already been largely ignored by many legacy media outlets.

The announcement was really more of an admission: that the Liberals’ flagship, much-vaunted climate plan, first introduced under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has failed. Prime Minister Carney acknowledged that Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions will be higher in the next few years than projected under the previous Liberal plan. He also conceded that the plan was “not sustainable over the long term,” arguing that it was too expensive and too divisive.

If that assessment is correct, then the central question is whether the previous approach was truly viable in the first place.

This admission is particularly noteworthy given that Prime Minister Carney spent years advocating internationally for climate policies, including carbon taxation, and later served as an adviser to the Trudeau government. While he may not have designed every element of the plan, he was a prominent supporter of many of the policy ideas that informed it. Yet, when discussing the shortcomings of the previous approach, there appears to be little acknowledgment of that connection.

If Prime Minister Carney now believes the previous climate plan was too expensive and too divisive to sustain, Canadians might reasonably ask why those concerns were dismissed when Conservatives raised them years ago? They may also wonder who should be held accountable for the years spent pursuing a policy direction that is now being characterized by a Liberal prime minister as unsustainable?

As the Official Opposition, this comes as no surprise to us. For years, Conservatives warned that the Liberal climate plan would impose significant costs on Canadians while struggling to maintain public support and long-term sustainability. Those concerns were routinely dismissed. As is typically the case, the Liberals, along with many of their friends in the media, claimed we were wrong. Often, government-funded experts agreed, and we were frequently vilified for challenging the government’s lofty and expensive climate claims.

The Liberal government has spent well over $150 billion on its climate plan while enacting legislation that became a roadblock to much of Canada’s natural resource development. At the same time, billions of dollars were committed to international climate finance initiatives overseas. Canadians may reasonably ask whether the government’s climate priorities were aligned with the economic challenges many families were facing here at home.

To finally hear Prime Minister Carney acknowledge that the previous Liberal climate plan was not sustainable, considering the high cost to Canadians, one would think this would be a national news story for weeks. Instead, some news outlets have barely reported on it. That is why I have chosen to focus on this issue in my report this week.

My question to you this week is: How satisfied are you with how our national media organizations hold the government to account?

Your feedback helps me do my job. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts on my Facebook page, by email at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca , or by calling toll-free at 1-800-665-8711.