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Conservative Leader Pierre Poirievre stands up during a question and answer session in Ottawa on May 22. Adrian Wylde/The Canadian Press
Bushfires have been raging in many parts of the country in recent weeks – this is nothing new, of course – but what is unusual is that so many fires are already lighting up the northern skies.
At least, that's what happened.
Evacuation orders were issued in parts of Fort McMurray, Alberta, about a week ago, reviving harrowing memories of the wildfires that destroyed much of the city in 2016. More than 4,000 residents of Fort Nelson, British Columbia, were also ordered to evacuate their homes recently as fires closed in on the area.
This is the new normal in Canada, and a stark reminder of the effects of climate change. So maybe now is the perfect time to ask the federal government to end the gas tax that is partly intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from car use.
This illogicality is at the heart of federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poirievre's latest pitch to cash-strapped Canadians who are considering giving up on summer road trips because of rising gas prices.
Opinion: After mild Canadian winter, expect the unexpected when it comes to climate change
Given that Poirierbvre has been hard at work on the campaign trail for months, a summer gas tax cut is a very clever ploy — like many of his ideas, it's unconventional but likely to be widely accepted. But it also highlights a crucial reality: Poirierbvre's utter disdain for any serious discussion of climate change and the work that's needed to combat it in this country.
Poirievre would rather walk around the country with pebbles in his shoes than talk about carbon emissions and what Canada can do to meet its Paris climate agreement obligations. He has refused to say whether he will uphold commitments under the 2015 climate change accord, which includes cutting emissions 30 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
For all their big talk, the federal Liberals have yet to make progress on their promised emissions reductions, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's politically sensitive tax cuts on home heating fuel in Atlantic Canada have undermined the credibility of a carbon tax. But at least the Liberals have a plan, and they're not shying away from talking about it as they continue to pursue their goals.
Poirierbre, meanwhile, seems more willing to talk about the sexual habits of iguanas than climate change, a topic that has gone from being a sore point for progressives to now being a concern for the oil industry.
Yes, the oil industry.
Do you know how ignorant oil industry leaders must be about climate change issues to be concerned? But recently, Derek Evans, the new president of oil sands group Pathways Alliance, said Poirievre needs to clarify where he stands on industrial carbon pricing. “Carbon policy is going to be absolutely critical to maintaining our position on the world stage,” Evans told CBC last week.
While Poirierbre has been vocal about his desire to repeal the federal carbon tax, he has been less forthcoming about a federal carbon price on industrial-scale emitters. In a statement that may have surprised many given that Pathways represents a coalition of companies responsible for 95% of oil sands production, Evans said he is “tired of all the talk and no action” when it comes to tackling climate change.
Well, if Poirierbvre's Conservatives form the next government in Ottawa, he'll be faced with a harsh reality: any conversation about climate change will be a taboo topic among Conservative members, at least until after the next election. Poirierbvre clearly understands that the issue does not inspire a broad swath of his base, and the last thing he wants is to infuriate some of them and have them defect to the People's Party of Canada or even back again.
Staying silent on the issue, or better yet, pretending you don't care, is a strategy that, at least for now, doesn't seem to sway those who believe climate action is necessary, as their contempt for Justin Trudeau and desire for change appear to be winning out.
That's fine. And certainly their right. Just spare us the lament when Canada becomes an international pariah for not taking action to prevent the planet from burning up.
By then, our attention will be even more focused on the wildfires raging across the country, and the climate debate will be even more obscured by smoke.
