Ottawa, ON — Kyle Seeback, Conservative Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Greg McLean, Conservative Shadow Minister for Natural Resources, and Luc Berthold, Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition and Québec Political Lieutenant, released the following statement after the release of the Environment Commissioner’s spring 2022 report:

“The Commissioner’s report confirms what Conservatives have been saying all along – this Liberal government is more concerned about announcements than outcomes, and their strategy is destroying thousands of jobs, with no beneficial outcome.

“The Liberal government has never met an environmental target, an economic projection, or a timeframe. Canadians have all the verification they need, including from an Officer of Parliament, that this government’s approach on emissions targets is fantasy.   

“When describing the Liberal government’s performance on climate change and supporting workers through a ‘just transition’, the Commissioner did not mince words. He said the government was ‘unprepared and slow off the mark’, had been ‘unrealistic’ and ‘overly ambitious’, and lacked clarity on how it was going to achieve any of its goals.

“The Liberal government’s approach to addressing their failures on environmental policy is to introduce new targets they have no intention of meeting and raising the ineffective Trudeau Carbon Tax on Canadians. A tax that the Commissioner said was mostly a burden on everyday Canadians.

“Most concerning to Canadians worried about the future is the warning that the Liberal government is jeopardizing more than 170,000 Canadian workers’ jobs without a credible plan to back up their big assumptions and magical thinking. That’s on top of the 180,000 energy jobs that were already destroyed under this Liberal government.

“It is clear the government has pursued a false narrative around Canada’s energy future and is willing to sacrifice our skilled workforce, which has contributed so much to our national prosperity and sustainability.

“There is nothing ‘just’ about this government’s plans to create national poverty while continuing to miss every climate goal and commitment. We will continue to be a voice for our world-class resource sectors and hold this Liberal government accountable for its climate plan failures.”