A few days before the 2023 COP28 in Dubai on climate change, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is clarifying his intentions for the environment if he becomes Prime Minister of the country.
“We are going to cancel the Green Fund which is full of waste and corruption,” he told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday morning. The leader outlined the government programs he would cut to eliminate deficits, the day after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s economic update.
In 2027-2028, the deficit should amount to $23.8 billion, Ottawa now estimates. Last March, he estimated it at 14 billion, or around ten billion dollars lower.
Sustainable Development Technologies Canada (SDTC), the foundation that administers federal investments, has a mission to promote the development of green technologies in small and medium-sized Canadian businesses. She had a mandate from the federal government to distribute $1 billion between 2021 and 2026.
SDTC has been the subject of denunciations from former employees regarding the management of funding allocated by Ottawa and the management of human resources. Some of its activities are temporarily suspended.
The Leader of the Opposition also said he would eliminate the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and the ArriveCan application, which was used to record proof of vaccination for all travelers wanting to enter or return to Canada during the pandemic.
“There will be more debt, more inflation, more interest and more taxes,” said Mr. Poilievre, criticizing the Liberals for their update which makes “no common sense” on numerous occasions. . On Tuesday, he described Minister Freeland’s speech as “disgusting”.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, for his part, justified the interest on the national debt projected in the economic statement the day before, explaining that the government “is investing in things that will create economic growth”, as the Northvolt and Volkswagen battery factories.
Asked whether his government had spent too much, the Prime Minister said that “these are the kinds of things that are essential.”
“We are on a responsible path and we are helping Canadians. This is what people want,” argued Justin Trudeau.
Korean workers
Pierre Poilievre also did not mince his words Wednesday morning regarding foreign workers who are to participate in the construction of a battery factory in Windsor, Ontario, which is supported by expected public funding of 15 billion dollars.
Windsor police said they expect about 1,600 South Korean workers to come to the community next year to help build the plant.
“It’s a scandal,” declared the Conservative leader. I ask the Prime Minister to publish the contract to find out how many foreign workers will be financed by taxpayers who can no longer feed themselves. » The latter demands that no public funding be granted to foreign workers.
In recent weeks, Mr. Poilievre has also advocated for the complete abandonment of the carbon tax, after the Prime Minister backed down on the tax on oil heating.