It’s been a hot mess of carbon taxes and broken climate promises under Justin Trudeau. 

With Trudeau’s costly carbon tax under fire, and his Environment Commissioner announcing that the government is set to miss its 2030 emissions target, many have grown tired of Trudeau and his Liberal government.

What’s the point of suffering under Trudeau’s climate agenda if it’s not even helping the climate?

It’s no wonder Canadians are fed up and want someone new to take over. Predictions and speculation have been floating around about the next federal election – none of which have been in Trudeau’s favor. As anger over the costs of the carbon tax reaches a boiling point and his third term as Prime Minister comes to a close, it seems the clock is ticking for Trudeau.

The question here is, will change come soon enough for Canadians?

Pressure has been mounting on Trudeau to scrap his costly carbon tax. From the Leader of the Opposition, all the way to simple Canadian farmers, it seems that no one is happy with this overbearing carbon tax. No one other than Trudeau and his Liberal ministers, that is.

In fact, five conservative premiers are now asking the Prime Minister for a meeting to discuss their calls for the removal of the carbon tax from all forms of home heating.

The premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia made the request in a letter published Friday addressed to Trudeau.

The letter reads: “We are pleased that your government is recognizing some of the hardships of carbon pricing, specifically in Atlantic Canada. However, many Canadian households do not use home heating oil and instead use all forms of heating to heat their homes. Winter is coming and these people also deserve a break.

By singling out Atlantic Canadians with this relief, it has caused divisions across the country. All Canadians are equally valued and should be equally respected. 

A Canadian is a Canadian.”

It seems that the pressure currently on Trudeau is not just in the form of a few MPs pointing fingers at him in the House of Commons, or Poilievre’s “Axe the Tax” rallies, but many are calling for formal meetings directly with the Prime Minister to urge him to get rid of the tax.

Not just that, but a strong majority of businesses, about 85 percent, now oppose the federal carbon tax and are calling for its removal, according to new data from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

On the other hand, Trudeau is not budging even under mounting pressure and has said that there won’t be any carbon tax exemptions on other forms of home heating.

However, it doesn’t really seem like his climate policy is even working, either. 

In the most recent report by Jerry DeMarco, the commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, the federal government is set to miss its 2030 target to cut carbon emissions by at least 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. This means Canada will also fail to align with the standards outlined in the Paris Agreement, the international treaty Trudeau holds as his personal gold standard.

The fact that this review was even initiated is because of the oversight processes written into the Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act that was passed in 2021. That legislation set up the requirement for the commissioner to monitor and report on the government’s progress on reducing emissions. 

Let’s look on the bright side though, at least they’re holding themselves accountable this time.

But actually, the report shows that the accountability measures in the government’s plan fall short. It notes that reducing emissions and meeting emission targets by 2030 and 2050 has been divided among numerous federal bodies that do not directly answer to the Environment Minister. So while the government proposed accountability measures, the report says those measures are lacking and responsibility has been spread too thin.

So there seems to be a predicament caused by a lack of action and a lack of accountability for the aforementioned lack of action. Great to see Trudeau’s government is working so efficiently!

The audit also found that there were considerable delays in rolling out emission reduction initiatives, with less than half of the measures actually having firm deadlines for completion, which according to the report, is essentially the main culprit for Canada not being able to reach its 2030 emissions reduction target.

In a recent House of Commons debate, Poilievere argued that Trudeau does not even have a plan at all, highlighting the environment commissioner’s report findings.

While Canada’s initial target was a 34 percent reduction in emissions, similar to the one set by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government in 2015, the Liberal government decided to adopt a more ambitious target two years ago.

Trudeau even guaranteed that his target would be met, at a climate forum last year.

Trudeau argued that while any politician can put forward a target, very few can meet them, and highlighted his government’s plan to actually do it. It looks like this remark hasn’t aged well at all. 

And while Trudeau is currently scrambling to meet that target, the commissioner’s report shows he probably won’t be able to.

As it turns out, whether Trudeau will be able to reach his goal depends a lot on the actual implementation of policies that so far have only been promised or proposed.

According to the environment commissioner’s audit, Trudeau’s government is tracking its progress on as many as 115 climate-centered policies. But reported “delays” in implementing these policies are decreasing the likelihood that the government reaches its ambitious targets. 

Recent projections by the independent Climate Institute also support the audit’s claims.

When only examining measures fully carried out so far, the Institute projects that Canada will fall 137 megatonnes short of its 2030 emissions goal. However, if all the climate policies the Liberal government says it intends to pursue are hypothetically added to the model, the projected gap is reduced to a much slimmer 15 megatonnes.

So basically the Liberals are all bark and no bite, who would’ve thought? For all the anger, outrage, and the pain inflicted on Canadians you would think that Canada would at least be achieving its goals, but clearly Trudeau’s ambitious targets were as unrealistic as everyone said.  

But as usual, when questioned on Friday about Canada’s lack of progress on greenhouse gas reduction goals, Trudeau pointed fingers at conservative premiers.

He told reporters that his government has “put in place the most ambitious plan and actions to fight climate change that any Canadian government has ever seen,” and criticized Conservative premiers for not doing the same.

However, Trudeau is not even adhering to his so-called “ambitious plan”, with his own commissioner attesting to that in his most recent report.

Other than the fact that the government is barely holding to its promises, it’s obvious now that these promises are also way too ambitious for anyone really. So ironically, Trudeau has set himself up for failure with his very own targets. 

It seems that many in Trudeau’s government fail to realize that. 

Even the commissioner criticized the government for the fact that Canada has been the worst performer among the G7 nations in reducing emissions, and is the only country to have had emissions increase since the year 1990.

What this comparison misses is the almost impossible standard it set for Canada.

Given that Canada has an immense landmass, very cold climate, and an economy reliant on natural resources, along with a modest population size, it is unrealistic to expect us to match emission reductions of much smaller, warmer nations.

Trudeau’s carbon tax debacle has gone on long enough. But what does it mean for Trudeau, and more importantly, for Canadians?

While the Trudeau government’s climate change agenda is making life less affordable for Canadians, to the point where many lower income Canadians can barely afford to put a roof over their heads or food on the table, it seems the next federal election will be centered around climate policies.

Poilievere has challenged Trudau to a “carbon tax election” for quite some time now. He had made that clear in a recent caucus.

And it’s clear from this damning report that Trudeau’s so-called climate leadership has failed Canadians. Instead of an unrealistic carbon tax that punishes hardworking families, we need an innovative approach focused on technology, not taxation. Other resource-based nations are achieving emission reductions without crippling their economies, why can’t we?

As this debate intensifies heading into the next election, Canadians will be looking for a party with a common-sense plan instead of empty Liberal promises.

The premiers have rightly called for fairness and affordability. It’s time Ottawa listened instead of lecturing. The future deserves better than a prime minister who promises much but delivers little, all at the expense of already struggling Canadians.

Winter is coming. And soon enough, an election is coming too. It seems that Justin Trudeau will have to face the music.