PThe Minister of Rime, Mark Carney, won a close victory against Pierre Hairyvre and the conservative party in the historic elections of Canada on Monday evening, obtaining a fourth term for the Liberal Party. The election was considered a fight against American president Donald Trump and his threats against the country – with all the other problems that fall on the roadside. Even Carney's climatic history were not enough to put climate action on the central scene – a recent survey revealed that climate change was not doing The top 10 Priorities for Canadian voters.
It is a big change compared to the previous elections. “It does not really seem that this election is an election to climate change,” said Jennifer Winter, professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, whose research focuses on climate policies. “The two primordial stories were Trump and the American prices and its effect on Canada, then the other predominant story is the cost of living.”
But the victory of the Liberal Party means that Canada will probably remain heading on many existing environmental policies, including a zero -emission vehicle sales mandate as well as electricity and fuel regulations. “In many ways, it is the continuation of a list of policies that have been put in place by the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau,” said Kathryn Harrison, professor of political science at the University of British Columbia.
Find out more: How Mark Carney won Canada's hinge elections
Carney's career has often ride the border between the private sector and the climate combat. He became a special envoy for the United Nations for action and climate finance in 2019, and in 2021 launched the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, an initiative to bring together financial institutions to support the transition to a zero net economy. His experiences have reflected in numerous campaign proposals from the Liberal, known as Harrison. “Some items you see on the platform, [like] This commitment to sustainable investment guidelines is very consistent with Carney's work as a special interview, ”she says.
Carney, however, promised to make Canada ”Energy superpower“- Tochon in clean energy, as well as petroleum and gas. Harrison says that change comes while Canada seeks to distinguish itself to the importation of natural resources in the United States.” He seemed to consider a pipeline that would serve Canada's oil demand, rather than offering new pipelines to obtain more oil from Canada on the coast or export it to export it to [other] markets. “”
And after taking office for the first time when former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned in March, one of Carney's first measures was to remove the country's carbon tax, a climate policy of division which imposed additional costs on consumers using fossil fuels. The initiative has often been blamed for the rise in life costs in the country, even 80% of families I received more money in discounts than they paid in the tax.
An essential step for Carney, according to experts, will be to find a replacement for carbon tax. “This opens up the question of whether Canada will always achieve its programs reduction goals without pricing consumption emissions, and what would replace it,” explains Green. “I think this is one of the key things to which will be answered in the coming weeks and months after the elections.”
Some, on the other hand, believe that the government must think greater. Canada was not on the right track to meet the programs reduction standards even with carbon tax, said Rick Smith, president of the Canadian Climate Institute, who notes that the new management could give Canada to adopt more ambitious policies. “There are a certain number of policies that must be improved, which must be added to the table to put the country back on the right track for the magnitude of the emission reductions to which we are committed under the Powers agreement,” said Smith. Although many debates have focused on the future of consumer carbon tax, it recommends that Canada focuses rather on solutions with greater potential to reduce emissions, such as accelerated methane reduction policies or the creation of a national carbon market. “The question must be extended.”
