Former environment minister says Canada’s commitment to climate targets ‘factually untrue’

Former Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin has come under fire from two of her predecessors for claiming that Canada is still committed to its Paris climate targets. Dabrusin is currently attending COP31, the United Nations climate conference in Antalya, Turkey. In an interview with The Canadian Press before her trip, Dabrusin maintained Canada's commitment to the Paris Accord.

However, former environment ministers Catherine McKenna and Steven Guilbeault accused her of lying. McKenna stated that the claim that Canada is still committed to its targets is "factually untrue," citing Canada's lack of progress towards meeting its 2030 Paris commitment and its insufficient path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Guilbeault added that Dabrusin's claim "defies reason" and is disingenuous, pointing to the government's own modelling and reports from the Canadian Climate Institute, which suggest that Canada is unlikely to meet its Paris targets. The latest government figures show that Canada has only achieved a 10.3 per cent reduction from 2005 levels, making it the worst-performing country in the G7.

The Canadian Climate Institute's modelling also predicts that Canada will not achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Prime Minister Mark Carney recently admitted that Canada's emissions are likely to rise over the next few years, suggesting that Canada has abandoned its 2030 commitments. Jerry DeMarco, Canada's Environment Commissioner, reported that the government's latest projections indicate Canada will only achieve a 28 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, taking into account the rollbacks in federal climate policy over the past 18 months.