Carney says Trudeau's climate plan was too expensive and divisive

Prime Minister Mark Carney says his predecessor's climate plan was too expensive for Canadians and too divisive for the country, and he has largely dismantled it.

In December 2025, Carney described Justin Trudeau's climate plan as having "too much regulation, not enough action" with a lot of talk "and then nothing happens."

"In my judgment (Trudeau's) plan was not sustainable over the long term," Carney said in a June video on Canada's energy future.

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"It would have been too expensive for Canadians … who are already struggling with affordability. It would have let down our partners, who need new sources of energy and would do so right at the time when we need them to help us become more independent of the United States. And it would have been too divisive for our country … the old plan was an open opportunity for those people who wish to pull Canada apart both at home and from abroad."

Carney, a former economic advisor to Trudeau, said rapidly changing geopolitical events made the old policies out of date.

He has scrapped the consumer carbon tax and oil and gas emission caps, while loosening clean electricity and methane regulations.

His government is supporting a new oil pipeline from Alberta to B.C. and has scrapped electric vehicle mandates, though it is replacing them with tougher emission standards.

Carney said these changes will increase Canada's emissions over the short term, which is why he has abandoned Trudeau's target of at least a 40% reduction in emissions compared to 2005 levels by 2030 and at least 45% by 2035.

He insists he remains committed to the 2050 target of net zero emissions.

"The truth is nobody knows how long the global economy will rely on conventional (oil and natural gas) energy," Carney said.

"But while it does, as much of that energy as possible should come from Canada … The goal (of reduced emissions) remains the same, but as times have changed we must change our plan to get there. We can't afford to restrain the growth of an important part of our energy mix, oil and gas, to meet a short-term goal."

As of 2024, the latest government data available, Canada's annual emissions were stalled at 685 million tonnes, which was 10.3% below 2005 levels.

That was just a quarter of the way to Trudeau's now-abandoned 2030 target.

The record shows no Canadian government, Liberal or Conservative, has ever met a single emission target it set for itself going back almost four decades.

Carney said this time things will be different.

The upfront costs of Trudeau's climate plan can be estimated to some extent.

In April 2023, then environment minister Steven Guilbeault said the Trudeau government had earmarked more than $200 billion to fight climate change, administered by 149 government agencies.

Add to that $303 billion in estimated provincial and territorial spending on climate change, administered through 364 government programs, according to data cited by retired energy consultant Robert Lyman in a May 2024 Financial Post column.

That means Canadians were paying at least $503 billion on more than 500 federal, provincial and territorial programs, costing every Canadian an estimated $12,000, which does not include municipal spending.

Trudeau's climate policies were also a major contributor to the dismal economic growth Canada experienced during his time in office, as defined by real GDP per capita.

When Trudeau came into office in 2015, he criticized outgoing Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper for "having the worst record of economic growth since R.B. Bennett in the depths of the Great Depression."

During the Harper era, real GDP per capita growth was about 0.5% annually. Under Trudeau, it was 0.3%.

To be fair, slow economic growth has been a long-standing problem in Canada, pre-dating Trudeau, caused by such factors as a lack of business investment and low productivity.

With files from Toronto Sun