My plan for the environment will reduce emissions in Canada and around the world.  We can accomplish this goal by:

1. Replacing coal as a source of energy for power plants at home and around the world with Canadian natural gas
2. Making investments in carbon sequestration
3. Achieving advances in technology
4. Continued conservation successes in our forests and agricultural lands
5. Meaningful consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, provinces, territories and industry.

My plan for environmental stewardship will not only reduce emissions but create jobs for Canadians.

Justin Trudeau is wreaking havoc on the Canadian economy and is doing little for the environment.  Inflicting strangling regulations on our natural resource sector, imposing costs on employers and hiking taxes on Canadians is not the answer. Combatting global climate change with a carbon tax that punishes Canadian industry, farmers, and families taking their kids to hockey or soccer practice will not produce results.

Canada needs to partner with the provinces, territories and the private sector to reduce carbon emissions from our largest emitters. But not, as Trudeau would like to do, by shutting them down, starving them of necessary approvals, or regulating these essential industries out of existence. What’s needed is capital improvements, new technologies, and energy conversion strategies so emissions go down while productivity goes up.

There is perhaps no single more important initiative that Canada could undertake to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions than to export our liquified natural gas to other countries as a replacement source of energy for the almost 2,500 coal-fired power plants around the world that are producing massive amounts of carbon dioxide. That’s why I will not kill natural resource projects that create jobs – I will get behind them.

Canada and the world need more natural gas produced from Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, not less; energy that can be ethically produced by world-class companies using advanced Canadian technology.

Justin Trudeau has failed to help Canada get our responsibly-produced natural resources to global markets where it can contribute to the fight against climate change and he has failed to gain recognition in climate negotiations for our active carbon sequestration projects or for the vast carbon sequestration that is realized from our responsible use of agricultural lands and our forests.

Justin Trudeau does not have a climate plan he has a taxation plan. It is unfair to many Canadians and is fundamentally divisive to the federation. More importantly— in a vast country with a cool climate— it won’t work. I will kill the carbon tax that is punishing people, especially those who live in rural Canada.

I will not engage in photo-ops at international climate conferences with those opposed to the development of Canadian energy.  And unlike Justin Trudeau, I will not impose arbitrary and ideological reporting tests on our largest companies in desperate need of immediate financial help to emerge from COVID-19.

The reality is that Justin Trudeau has no plan to meet the Paris targets on emissions. And those who claim that Canada will be a net-zero emitter of carbon in the coming decades are prepared to make empty and meaningless pledges.  I will level with Canadians. These targets are aspirational. As Prime Minister, I will ensure Canada does more than our fair share to address what is a global challenge. And we will do this with a plan that produces results and creates jobs for Canadians.

Produce Real Results

Unlike the Liberals, Conservative governments in the past have enacted Canada’s most important environmental legislation, such as the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, Canada’s National Conservation Plan, and the Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement. Conservatives have always found a way to protect both the economy and our environment.  The Liberals wreak havoc on the economy and do little for the environment.

The Conservative approach in the late 1980s to dealing with Acid Rain emissions is an example of how Canada dealt with a North American problem with research, ingenuity, and through agreements with all provinces. It was a serious problem that had killed nearly 15,000 lakes, another 150,000 had been damaged, and a further 150,000 were under threat. Many salmon-bearing rivers in Nova Scotia no longer supported the species. Prime agricultural land and our forests were vulnerable. The Inco smelter in Sudbury was the biggest producer of SO2 emissions in Canada. With the support of the Government of Canada and private sector innovation they met their targets and profits rose.  Canada demonstrated our accomplishments on Acid Rain to the Americans and they followed our lead.

We will not achieve results for Canadians through a carbon tax, or through a national industrial regulator, or a pricing regime established by the federal government that will kill investments and jobs.  A government that I lead will work cooperatively with provinces and industry to reduce emissions.  Targeted investments and supports, not the heavy hand on the federal government, will deliver the reductions that are needed from our highest emitters.    

Modernizing Environment Assessments

As Prime Minister, I will bring clarity and fairness back to responsible resource development by replacing Bill C-69 (The modernization of the National Energy Board and Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency) with a streamlined and effective process that promotes job creation while protecting Canada’s biodiversity. Meaningful Indigenous consultation and robust environmental assessments will be enshrined but with processes that have hard caps on time limits and with clear criteria in the environmental assessment process.

Supporting Biodiversity

Protecting Canada’s biodiversity benefits everyone, which is why, as Prime Minister, I will support the work of farmers and ranchers who take the time, effort, and the expense to plant trees and conserve fragile ecosystems.

I will work with organizations like ALUS Canada (Alternative Land Use Services) that are taking the lead in supporting farmers and ranchers restore wetlands, reforest, plant windbreaks, install riparian buffers, manage sustainable drainage systems, create pollinator habitat and establish other ecologically beneficial projects on their properties.

As Prime Minister, I will introduce a Canadian Afforestation and Reforestation Benefit (CARB) to support landowners who engage in reforestation or the sustainable use of forests on their private land.

Carbon Sequestration

Canada is already making great strides in carbon sequestration and Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia are leading the way. The Boundary Dam Power Station near Estevan, Saskatchewan became the first power station in the world to successfully use Carbon Capture and Storage technology. The Fort Nelson project in British Columbia is a retrofit of a gas processing plant where carbon is being stored in aquifers.

This year the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line — a major carbon capture project — became operational with support from the governments of Alberta and Canada in partnership with the private sector. It will enable the recapture of up to 70 per cent of CO2 emissions from a refinery for storage in a reservoir.

It is on these projects where Canada can invest, lead, create jobs and reduce carbon emissions. That why a key plank in my Jobs Plan for Canada is to become a Technology Powerhouse of the North.  It is not just to create high-paying jobs in the digital world but to lead in the use of technology and advanced research in the responsible management of our energy and the environment. A Conservative government that I lead will stimulate private sector investment in carbon sequestration projects by allowing high rates of capital cost allowance on new assets.

Research and Innovation

I will promote Canadian innovation and entrepreneurialism in science and technology that is directed towards increasing energy efficiency, carbon sequestration, diesel engine conversion, building methods and materials, development of alternative energy sources and reducing pollution.

As Prime Minister, I will support made in Canada solutions to fight climate change by lowering the tech readiness level for clean and green technologies seeking funding under the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), which funds a portion of promising R&D to pre-venture capital Canadian companies, and through the expansion of the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit for clean and green technology research to grow Canada’s clean and green technology sector. This will help us to reduce emissions and foster Canadian innovation and entrepreneurialism.

Inclusive Consultations

The environment is a national concern and I am committed to a broad consultative approach to protecting Canada’s biodiversity. Justin Trudeau believes inclusive consultation is only hearing from like-minded Liberal stakeholders, foreign intervenors, and those with the loudest voices. I believe that consultation must include working with all levels of government and a broad range of regulatory and industry stakeholders, user groups, and scientific and Indigenous communities, if we are to truly achieve reductions in atmospheric pollution, enhance wastewater treatment and water utilization, and conserve and restore agricultural and industrial soils.

I will expand Canadian opportunities abroad by seeking out international partnerships with like-minded democracies to develop business-to-business working groups to facilitate clean and green technology proliferation to reduce the global carbon footprint.

Supporting Canadian Leadership on the Environment

When a landowner is denied use of his or her property to protect an endangered species the government should not ask them to shoulder all the burden.

When a landowner takes the time, effort, and expense to plant trees to sequester CO2 and create habitat for endangered species, everyone benefits. As Prime Minister, I will recognize the economic burden that environmental protection and the creation of habitat for endangered species has on private landowners, farmers, and ranchers, and will respond through a suite of supportive policy initiatives to recognize this economic hardship.

Transparency and Clarity

The Liberal’s short-sighted environmental policies center on the belief that protecting the environment is accomplished by stacking regulations, changing rules mid-stream, curbing resource development, and driving investment out of Canada.

We have already experienced spikes in electricity rates in provinces that have imposed costly new “Green” programs that have fallen especially hard in the manufacturing sector and where many jobs have now gone to jurisdictions with lower power rates.

I believe that if the processes of economic development and environmental protection are transparent and clear to all stakeholders, we can achieve prosperity through responsible resource development and be good stewards of our environment.

Improving transparency and clarity with respect to economic development is achieved by removing duplicative review processes and encouraging provincial and territorial governments to take the lead where they are best placed to do so. The goal is to minimize the duplication of regulations to ensure that our economy can prosper while maintaining strong environmental protections.

Made in Canada Environmental Policy

For far too long we have allowed outside actors to make decisions regarding Canada’s economic and environmental policies. Under a Conservative government that I lead, Canadians will make decisions in the best interests of Canada. Together we can protect Canadian sovereignty, economic development and ensure that water resources and food supplies are sustained, and the health of Canadians and natural ecosystems are protected.

Canada has one of the best environmental records in the world and we have abundant natural resources. Yet we import oil from despotic governments with atrocious human rights records and substandard environmental protection regimes. In addition, Canada should no longer take its marching orders from well-funded, foreign based eco-agitators.

As Prime Minister, I will work to end the importation of foreign oil and will sell our clean natural resources and advanced products that help to reduce global carbon emissions with pride.

While Canada will do more than its part, we can to ensure that North America is energy self-sufficient and work collaboratively with the United States and Mexico to reduce emissions on a continent-wide basis.

Clean Water

Canada has among the largest freshwater resources of any country and the longest coastline in the world. I will ensure that our natural water systems are protected against the discharge of untreated wastewater while ensuring clean water supplies for all Canadians.  Clean water will also help to maintain healthy populations of fish and wildlife.

The social and economic development of Canada is historically bound with oceans, lakes and rivers which provided energy, transportation routes, and food. Yet we have no Act of Parliament specifically designed to keep our water resources clean. In 2017, Canada discharged 84 million cubic metres of untreated wastewater into our waterways from final discharge points. This cannot be allowed to continue.

It is also indefensible that over the past number of years there have been between 50 -100 long-term water advisories for Indigenous communities.  This designation applies when an advisory has been in place for more than a year.  As Prime Minister, I will make it a priority to address this problem.

Working in cooperation with Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders, user groups, and governments, a Conservative government that I lead will enshrine the protection of Canada’s natural water systems through passing a Clean Water Act