Poilievre slams PM Carney's 'crude awakening' on Trudeau-era environment policies
· Toronto Sun
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OTTAWA — He’s not buying it.
That was the message Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre brought to his home riding of Battle River-Crowfoot on Thursday, telling reporters that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s apparent about-face on Canada’s Trudeau-era environmental initiatives doesn’t jibe with Carney’s nearly decade-long stint of behind-the-scenes engineering on his predecessor’s environmental policy that he now says the country can’t afford.
“(Carney) claims that he’s changed his mind, that he was wrong all along,” Poilievre said during an event in Camrose, Alta., about 75 km southeast of Edmonton.
“If that’s the case, why hasn’t he eliminated bill C-69, the anti-development law? Why hasn’t he eliminated the ban on shipping oil off the north west coast of British Columbia, and why is he going ahead with a 500% increase in the industrial carbon tax — a tax that will not only drive up the cost of food and homes, but will drive billions of dollars south of the border, where they pay no carbon tax.”
Alberta Premier Smith ‘up against a lot’
Poilievre made those remarks ahead of a late Thursday press conference where the PM and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith were expected to announce a new pipeline project, praising Smith for her efforts in standing up to Ottawa.
“She’s been up against a lot — the Liberal party, at the instigation of their then-economic advisor Mark Carney, waged all-out war on our oil and gas sector for over 10 years,” Poilievre said.
“Mark Carney tries to distance himself from those policies in his rhetoric, but the reality is that he was the world-wide champion of it — he was the head of the UN agency seeking to shut down oil and gas. He was the head of a banking alliance seeking to defund the oil and gas sector. He advised (former PM Justin) Trudeau that the carbon tax needed to be bigger and broader.”
Poilievre also pointed out Carney’s opposition to the now-cancelled Northern Gateway pipeline project.
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Carney spent the morning in Vancouver, where he met with Filipino President Bongbong Marcos and held a joint press conference with BC Premier David Eby where the PM vowed to uphold the oil tanker ban.
That pronouncement was a key part of a multi-billion dollar memorandum-of-understanding (MOU) signed between BC and Ottawa concerning future resource projects.
Keeping the tanker ban in place complicates Carney’s MOU with Alberta, signed last November, which would see Alberta boost oil, gas and electricity production while lowering emissions.
As for Carney’s insistence on maintaining the tanker ban, Poilievre said the only way forward is for Ottawa to get out of the way.
“Get the government out of the way and allow the shipping of oil off the north west coast of BC,” he said.