Maybe the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau occasionally does things that aren’t to do with climate change. Maybe.
But you’d only notice that if you’re an Ottawa bubble policy junkie who follows the ins and outs of Parliament.
Zoom out though and from a bird’s eye view, it seems that all the Liberals do is roll out a never-ending series of climate-related projects.
Consider the speed and volume of some of the recent announcements:
There’s the upcoming increase to the carbon tax that will happen this April. This will see the carbon tax price per litre on gas go up to 14 cents.
On December 20, Trudeau’s plastic bag ban came into effect. Consumers now have to either bring their bags or pay $3 – that’s the price of a large canvas bag at Walmart – to carry home their purchases.
Also last month, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced that the government was mandating the percentage of automotive sales of new vehicles that must be electric vehicles – beginning with 20% in 2026 and 100% by 2035. It’s truly bizarre to think the government believes it’s their job to legislate private sector sales ratios.
This month, the government rolled out their push for what they call Just Transition legislation – where they will be working to aggressively phase out jobs in the oil and gas sector. They promise to replace them with high-paying green jobs, but their projections may not come to pass as they’re all based on magical-thinking.
Then – no, I’m not done yet – there are the fertilizer reduction targets aimed at farmers that the government is still working on. The goal is to reduce emissions from fertilizer usage by 30%. A number of experts have said that – surprise, surprise – a 30% reduction in fertilizers could lead to a 30% reduction in yields. This means less food and more prices.
Finally – still not done! – there are the climate coalitions the government joined during the World Economic Forum the other week. Yes, that’s coalitions, plural.
The government signed Canadians up for two different international coalitions designed to reduce emissions usage throughout the global supply chain. An economics professor from the University of British Columbia said this will increase the price of goods.
That’s a lot of climate frenzy in such a short span of time. And I’m surely leaving one or two things out. Given all of this activity, you’ve got to think that the Liberals are done on this front. There’s got to be nothing left to do.
But don’t be so sure. In fact, things may only be ramping up. This frenzy shows no signs of slowing down.
Whenever the PM speaks, whatever he speaks about, he always brings it back to things green. It’s clear that this is his driving policy issue.
Trudeau is even willing to let heads of state like Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz come all the way to Canada and ask for our resources on live TV only to be publicly rebuffed just so our PM can be seen dunking on the oil and gas sector yet again.
As it becomes increasingly clear that Trudeau is nearing the end of his time as Prime Minister, he may focus even more so on personal pet projects and things that appeal to his base. The green agenda fits this bill perfectly.
Besides, if you are a true believer that we’re facing an imminent existential climate crisis, it only makes sense that you’d use your last year or months in office to do everything you can on this file.
Does this mean more to come? Probably.
