Federal environment officials faced tough questions in Ottawa on Monday as MPs pressed them to explain how recent government policy changes are affecting Canada’s climate goals. Appearing before the House of Commons standing committee on environment and sustainable development, assistant deputy ministers from Environment and Climate Change Canada struggled to provide clear answers about the impact of scrapping the consumer carbon price and delaying the electric vehicle mandate.
Bloc Québécois MP Patrick Bonin repeatedly asked the officials how the changes would affect Canada’s 2030 emissions reduction targets. At first, they pointed to other measures already in place and leaned on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s public talking points. But under sustained questioning, some numbers were finally disclosed. Megan Nichols, one of the officials testifying, admitted that repealing the carbon price would add about three megatonnes of emissions by 2030. She acknowledged, however, that the impact of pausing the EV mandate for 2026 had not yet been calculated.
The exchange followed weeks of uncertainty, with federal ministers refusing to directly commit to the 2030 targets even after the Canadian Climate Institute released a report suggesting that Ottawa is already at risk of falling short. For opposition MPs, Monday’s hearing reinforced doubts about whether the government has a realistic path to meeting its climate promises.