Liberal MP insists he’s ‘not unhappy’ despite environmental policy shift, Poilievre claims

Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson discusses the federal budget and its climate policies, Poilievre’s remarks towards him, and Canada’s emissions targets.

B.C. Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson says he is “not unhappy” as a member of the Liberal government, despite a significant shift in environmental policies under Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, pointed on Wednesday to reporting from the Toronto Sun that says Wilkinson – who served as both environment and climate change minister and energy and natural resources minister under former prime minister Justin Trudeau – is opposed to the Liberals’ environmental agenda.

“No, I’m not unhappy,” Wilkinson said on CTV’s Power Play on Wednesday when asked about Poilievre’s comments. “I didn’t see his press conference, although I find it interesting that he invoked my name.”

Poilievre made the remarks when asked by reporters in Calgary about two MPs who announced last week that they were leaving the Conservative caucus. Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont crossed the floor to the Liberals, while Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux said he would be resigning next spring.

While saying he plans to “continue to lead” when asked by a CTV News reporter about his leadership, Poilievre also referred to recent criticism from Ontario Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith over the federal budget, describing it as “dissent within the Liberal party.”

“I understand also former Liberal minister Guilbeault is unhappy with the environmental policies. While he supports raising costs, he doesn’t think they raise them enough. We’ve got Wilkinson (who) is unhappy,” Poilievre said.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the wall-to-wall coverage on CTV of all of the costly turmoil in the Liberal budget,” he added.

2030 emission targets ‘always going to be a stretch’

Since becoming prime minister, Carney has reversed course on several key environmental policies made under the Trudeau government.

Back in March, Carney effectively ended the consumer carbon tax that was unpopular amongst Canadians for years.

The Carney government has also been non-committal on whether Canada’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and by 45 to 50 per cent by 2035 will be reached.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin would not answer directly when asked about the federal government’s commitment to those targets.

“We have targets in place. They’re ambitious, and Canadians are ambitious. That’s what they want to see from us,” Dabrusin said. “It requires a stretch, but that is what we absolutely continue to do.”

The federal budget released last week, meanwhile, signalled an intent to scrap the proposed oil and gas emissions cap, saying strengthening industrial carbon pricing, technologies like carbon capture and enhanced oil and gas methane regulations “would create the circumstances whereby the oil and gas emissions cap would no longer be required as it would have marginal value in reducing emissions.”

The prime minister was later asked what “strengthening” the industrial carbon price would mean but did not offer a direct answer.

When asked by host Vassy Kapelos whether he is disappointed in those shifts – after defending those policies for years – Wilkinson insisted that programs like investment tax credits and electricity regulations are “moving forward,” but admitted it was “disappointing” to see the consumer carbon tax eliminated.

“It’s disappointing for me, as somebody who was a defender of that. It is the most economically efficient way to reduce emissions,” Wilkinson said.

“That being said, Mr. Poilievre turned it into a very divisive issue across this country. I think it’s too bad, because it actually is good public policy,” he added.

Pressed again on whether he is disappointed by a lack of clarity on the federal government’s commitment to emissions targets, Wilkinson acknowledged “changes are being made.”

“I do think that the government is going to need to come forward at some point with a more comprehensive climate plan,” Wilkinson said. “The climate competitiveness thing that was in the budget was about climate competitiveness. It wasn’t intended to be a full-blown climate plan. That is something that the government’s going to need to reflect on.”

Asked if the country is on track to meet its emission targets before 2050, Wilkinson conceded again the federal government needs to “come forward with a plan,” but emphasized the challenging economic environment due to the United States.

“Let’s be honest. It was always going to be a stretch to get to the 40 per cent number,” Wilkinson said. “When we actually developed the detailed climate plan, when I was there as environment minister, we got to 36 per cent.”

Back in March, Wilkinson wrote a letter to oil and gas sector CEOs, saying Canada should not scrap climate policies in the face of Trump’s trade war.

“It is disappointing to see the CEOs of major Canadian energy companies seemingly looking to profit from actions being taken south of the border — to the long-term detriment of your shareholders and Canadians generally,” Wilkinson wrote at the time.

When asked by Kapelos about that letter and the relevance of his message now, Wilkinson said he was responding to CEOs who supported getting rid of all environmental regulations, like the industrial carbon price.

“I actually think that the government is making the right moves. It will need to continue to be ambitious, and there will be lots of folks like myself that are going to push them to continue to be ambitious,” he said.