Industry minister Joly won’t say if federal climate targets are here to stay

CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos speaks with Industry Minister Melanie Jolie discusses the federal government’s EV mandate a ‘Buy Canadian’ initiative.

As Prime Minister Mark Carney announces he’s pausing yet another cornerstone environmental policy laid out by his predecessor Justin Trudeau, Industry Minister Melanie Joly won’t say whether the federal government will maintain its 2030 and 2035 emissions reduction targets.

Carney announced Friday that his government will pause the 2026 electric vehicle (EV) target, launch a review of the overall mandate and amend federal Clean Fuel Regulations.

The move follows Carney’s decision to zero out the consumer price on carbon in March, his first move as prime minister.

Speaking to reporters following his announcement on Friday, Carney signalled the door is open to other changes on climate policy, except for the industrial price on carbon.

“We will soon also release our climate competitiveness strategy to position Canada as a leader in decarbonization,” he said. “As Canada’s new government embarks on these missions, we will work to ensure Canadian businesses and workers have the tools that they need to help drive this transformation.”

In an interview with CTV Question Period airing Sunday, host Vassy Kapelos asked Joly several times whether the Carney government plans to keep the Trudeau-era emissions reduction targets.

Joly said the federal government was “clearly” committed to its 2050 net-zero emissions target. But, when asked about the emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2035, the minister was less definitive.

“What I can tell you ... is that you’ve seen the jobs numbers,” Joly said, after deferring the question to the environment minister. “This is the reality in which Canadians watching us right now are living in.”

“We need to make sure that we are there for our auto sector while continuing to have very ambitious climate-change goals, so making sure that we reduce emissions, and that’s why we’re launching a 60-day-period consultation,” Joly also said.

Statistics Canada reported this week that Canada’s unemployment rate climbed to its highest level since May 2016, not including the pandemic, as U.S. tariffs have begun to bite into Canada’s economy.

Joly is the second cabinet minister who wouldn’t explicitly back all of the Trudeau-era emissions reduction targets. In an interview on The Vassy Kapelos Show last month, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson also declined to do so.

“The objective that we have is, as Canadians, to produce the best product we can possibly produce for world markets,” Hodgson said. “That’s low-cost, low-carbon production, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Joly insisted the decision to review the overall EV mandate is not about capitulating to those who have been vocal critics of the policy — such as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre — but rather about responding to U.S. tariffs.

When asked by Kapelos whether the delay in pausing the 2026 EV targets and reviewing the overall mandate was to avoid giving the Conservatives a win, Joly said: “I think you’re overthinking it.”

“Forget the Conservative rhetoric that it’s all about EVs,” she said. “No. It’s about tariffs. It’s about the fact that the U.S. is putting tariffs on our auto sector, and that’s affecting jobs.”

In an email to CTV News, a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin wrote that Canada is “committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.”

“Canada has made significant progress in putting the foundational policies in place to bend the emissions curve,” Keean Nembhard wrote, adding that since 2015, “many sectors of the economy have made real and measurable progress to lower their emissions.”

“Taking into account the evolving global and economic context, the federal government will provide an update on its emissions reductions plan as we strive towards our 2030 and 2035 targets,” Nembhard also wrote.

You can watch Industry Minister Melanie Joly’s interview on CTV Question Period Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.

With files from CTV News’ Brennan MacDonald