When the Liberals formed government in Ottawa back in 2015, climate action was one of Justin Trudeau’s top priorities. And those policies, however controversial, seem to be making some progress; Canada’s emissions are finally falling, even if a lot more cuts are needed by 2030.
But with a federal election looming next year — and a change in government south of the border — experts and industries are considering whether Canadian climate policies will survive.
A centrepiece of the Liberal climate plan, carbon pricing, has become a rallying cry for Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives, whose Axe the Tax campaign has tapped into growing anxieties about the daily costs of housing, food and other necessities.
But the consumer carbon tax — which applies to the burning of most fossil fuels, adding about 18 cents to a litre of gasoline, for example — is only part of the carbon pricing system.
The biggest impact on emissions, according to …