Face of Nation :OTTAWA — Ahead of a climate policy announcement from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, the Tories are going all-in on attacking the Liberal government for its projected failure to meet emissions reduction targets, according to an internal memo obtained by the National Post.
The memo to chief of staff Marc-André Leclerc, dated June 5, outlines the party’s communications strategy leading up to Scheer’s speech on environment policy, which he is scheduled to deliver before the House of Commons rises for summer next week. It is the last in a series of policy speeches intended to unveil Scheer’s “vision for Canada” before a federal election campaign this fall.
Chief among objectives listed in the 12-page memo is to “increase media and public awareness that Justin Trudeau will miss the Paris Agreement targets,” as a way to “discredit the Liberal carbon tax as an emissions reductions plan.”
Canada’s environment commissioner, citing the government’s own figures, has said Canada is not on pace to meet its commitment to a 30-per-cent cut in emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. Liberals argue that taxing emitters will give the private sector an incentive to become more environmentally friendly over the long run, and that any effects on the average family will be mitigated by rebates on tax returns.
But Conservatives are banking on the idea that if more people become aware Canada will miss its emissions targets no matter what, it will be easier to argue that a federal carbon tax is an unnecessary burden. “We must continue to deliver the message that Trudeau’s carbon tax is not an environmental or emissions reductions plan. It is only a tax plan. Highlighting how Trudeau will miss Paris is a key proof point,” reads a bullet point under the header “strategic considerations.”
The heavy focus on the Paris Agreement comes as Conservative provincial governments including those in Ontario and Alberta reject the carbon tax outright, and as the Parliamentary Budget Officer prepares to release a report Thursday that will offer “an independent estimate of the additional carbon price that would be needed to achieve Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions target in 2030 under the Paris Agreement, as well as an estimate of the corresponding impact on the Canadian economy.”
