With Canada’s federal election just a week away and his party beginning to carve out a lead in national opinion polls, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau refused to set specific targets for reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions in a Saturday morning interview with CBC’s The House.
“What we need is not ambitious political targets,” Trudeau told moderator Chris Hall. “What we need is an ambitious plan to reduce our emissions in the country.”
In February, Trudeau said a Liberal government would allow flexibility for provincial and territorial governments to pursue their own approaches to meeting national carbon targets. “The federal government can draw together that leadership—and will—if we have a federal government that believes in climate change,” he said at the time.
If he forms a government after elections October 19, Trudeau says he plans to consult with provinces before setting national targets. The Liberals have also promised $200 million in annual funding for innovation and clean technologies in forestry, energy, and agriculture, plus $100 million in direct support for cleantech businesses.
NDP leader Tom Mulcair has committed to a national cap and trade program that would reduce GHG emissions 34% below 1990 levels by 2025, en route to an 80% reduction by 2050.
