The rise of the conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is giving nightmares to Justin Trudeau. The Canadian Prime Minister is well aware of how his policy decisions have been severing a blow to his popularity. His insane political stature has done nothing so far except result in a record-high dissent in the country. It has become clear to the liberal party that the incumbent Justin Trudeau is no match for the rising leader, Pierre Poilievre.
Poilievre used his first opposition day as Conservative leader on Tuesday to speak out against the federal carbon tax in the House of Commons. Now, a desperate Trudeau is rushing to safeguard his policies. He knows once Poilievre takes the baton, scrapping Trudeau’s mindless policies is the first thing to be done. The much-touted carbon-tax policy is one of those.
The Canadian Prime Minister is eyeing the dream of making Canada free of carbon emissions by 2030 owing to which he brought in a carbon-tax policy that received flak from the conservative caucus in the country.
Now, with the rise of a conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, Justin Trudeau is worried his carbon-tax policy will be bogged down. In a bid to safeguard his dream of making Canada free of carbon emissions, he is now rushing to make the policy conservative-proof.
The federal Liberals are intending to introduce a program to ensure that carbon pricing is not only maintained through at least 2030 but also increases throughout that time, from $50 per tonne to $170 per tonne, as minister of natural resources Jonathan Wilkinson recently informed a crowd in downtown Toronto.
Read More: Pierre Poilievre is Justin Trudeau’s new political guru
The federal Liberals’ strategy to slow climate change is based on the concept of carbon pricing, or the cost of emitting greenhouse gases into the environment, and they are currently developing laws to guarantee its continuation in Canada for years to come.
After delivering a speech to the Canadian Club, Wilkinson responded to questions by claiming that industry won’t spend billions of dollars to cut carbon emissions unless they are “confident” that carbon pricing won’t be eliminated under a new president.
“I would say that we do feel urgency to give certainty to industry,” Wilkinson said after the event in an interview. “In my view, we can’t leave it there long.”
The Canadian Conservative Party leader and official opposition, Pierre Poilevre, has conducted demonstrations to “Axe the Carbon Tax” and tweeted that he would halt hiking the tax in reaction to inflation, which may be part of the reason for the urgency.
Wilkinson did not mention Poilievre by name, but described the political conversation around carbon pricing as “frustrating.”
Read More: Pierre Poilievre: The only leader who can save Canada’s faltering conservatives
Clearly, the liberals are going bonkers to save their carbon policy. The carbon tax comes at a time when the country is already aching from surging inflation, pricey food, groceries, high oil and gas, house rents etc. The premiers of the prairies have also condemned the move by the federal liberals, but turning a deaf ear to people’s worries is what perfectly suits Trudeau’s persona.
Whereas Pierre Poilievre is more pragmatic, he believes that technology, not taxes, will reduce carbon emissions. Nuclear technology, carbon capture, and mining critical minerals are all components of Pierre Poilievre’s approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change. For a long time, the leader has emphasized scrapping the policy, and now even the liberals have accepted that as soon as the Poulievre takes charge, defeating the liberals in the next elections, the carbon-tax policy will come to an end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AiAOpFcSWk
