On Saturday, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau brushed off allegations from his political opponents that his administration is not taking action on environmental issues, particularly climate change, during a campaign appearance in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, Ontario.
Trudeau denied that the Liberal government did nothing regarding the environment and climate change, contrary to what the Green Party and the New Democrats (NDP) are saying. He stressed that their efforts on protecting more land and water, banning single-use plastics, and putting a price on pollution are far from “doing nothing.”
Moreover, the Liberal Leader also highlighted that both the NDP and the Green Party have not “put forward a real plan to fight climate change in this election.” He also emphasized that instead of “explaining why they get a failing grade from experts on their plan to fight climate change,” his political rivals are “trying to drag everyone else down.”
Jagmeet Singh of the NDP said on September 11 that “Trudeau cannot be trusted on the environment.” He added that if the previous six years were to be thoroughly checked, “he has shown he is not going to fight this climate crisis.”
In line with this, the Conservative Party of Canada’s Erin O’Toole also pointed out that greenhouse gas emissions have seen a surge during Trudeau’s leadership.
Despite the flak from his political opponents, Trudeau put forward the positive analyses of former British Columbia Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver and energy economist Mark Jaccard on the issue. Both Jaccard and Weaver maintained that the Liberal Party’s approach to solving environmental problems and climate change is a step ahead compared to the others.
However, it is still important to note that Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions had a climb of about 3% between 2015 and 2019, based on reliable statistics.
