KING CITY — Liberal leader Mark Carney on Saturday again claimed he has big plans to make Canada a global energy superpower by coupling existing “conventional resources” and green technology.
Carney however has said throughout the federal election campaign that he will not repeal Bill C-69, which prohibits the construction of new pipelines, or Bill C-48, which bans oil tankers on the coast of Western Canada.
Carney said his government will “chart a new course for Canada,” and issued a detailed plan on how the Liberals will “stand up for Canada” against the US amid sovereignty threats and the ongoing trade war.
“In a crisis, you have to prepare for the worst, not hope for the best,” said Carney at a press conference in King City, ON.
He said Trump is “not trolling — he means what he says.”
“America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country," said Carney.
"President Trump is trying to break us so American can own us. And while that will never happen, our world has fundamentally changed. Our old relationship with the United States is over.”
“That’s a tragedy, but it’s also our new reality.”
He said he plans to “build the fastest growing economy in the G7” by “supporting workers” amid the ongoing US trade war, cutting taxes for more than 22 million Canadians, building 500,000 new homes a year, “protecting and modernizing” the healthcare system and facilitating a radical boost in energy production — with both oil and gas and new green technologies.
“Making Canada the world’s leading energy superpower while lowering emissions, combining our conventional energy resources with our unlimited potential when it comes to clean, affordable energy,” said the party in a press release.
Carney also conceded the Liberals’ capital gains tax hike, which went into effect last spring, and the consumer carbon tax, which was set to increase again on April 1, but was paused after Carney won the Liberal leadership, are unpopular with Canadians.
Carney was former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s economic adviser for at least five years, and has both written and spoken extensively about the necessity for strict “carbon pricing.”
“We saw that the capital gains tax hike was stifling the builders and innovators that we need, so we got rid of it, we reversed it,” said Carney.
“We recognized that the consumer carbon tax was too divisive, so we eliminated it on day one, saving Canadians up to 18 cents a litre at the pump.”
Carney was asked by a reporter about his rhetoric he uses at rallies versus at press conferences, where he goes so far as to say, under his leadership, “Canada will win a trade war.”
“Are you setting an unrealistic expectation for Canadians about what’s coming over the next year or two?” asked the reporter.
“There are a few things. The first is to put into context what is at stake here,” said Carney.
“If we lose the negotiations … we will lose as a country. We’ll be damaged.”
“However, if we build one Canadian economy out of 13 (from the provinces and territories), that alone is bigger than the hit that we can get from the US economy.”
“But then if we go further — we double the pace of housing growth, we build clean energy, we build the energy transition and conventional energy as well, and we build out our very considerable trading opportunities around the world — we will give ourselves many multiples of that, in terms of return.”
“That’s how we’ll win the trade war.”
