Pierre Poilievre has been a Conservative politician since 2004, including holding Cabinet positions in the Harper government. A recent investigation found that in this 20-year span, he has voted against environmental protection 400 times, as opposed to only thirteen times in favour.
Pierre Poilievre’s Platform
Climate Change
Poilievre’s Conservative Party opposes all significant federal measures to address climate change as attacks on the oil and gas industry, while advocating for an expansion of oil and gas production. His climate and energy platform mirrors the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers’ 2025 Federal Policy Priorities: How our next government can leverage the energy sector for all Canadians, which calls for the federal government to abandon all regulation of greenhouse gas emissions (including carbon pricing) by leaving it up to provinces.
Aside from his promise to eliminate the carbon tax (“Axe the Tax”), Poilievre has promised to eliminate the major elements of the current federal climate plan. This includes opposition to:
- Making big polluters pay. Poilievre has promised to eliminate the industrial carbon tax, which is the primary driver of pollution reductions in the current climate plan.
- A cap on pollution from the oil and gas sector (which is the largest source of GHGs in Canada at nearly ⅓ of total Canadian emissions).
- The Clean Fuel Regulations (which requires oil companies to reduce the carbon content of the gasoline and diesel they sell).
- The Clean Electricity Regulation (which mandates a ‘net zero’ electricity system by 2035).
- The Electric Vehicle Availability Standards (that phases out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035).
- The Impact Assessment Act (that includes climate change as an issue to be considered).
- Just Transition policies (that assist oil and gas workers affected by the energy transition).
Additional statements on climate:
- As part of his commitment to support the rapid expansion of the oil and gas industry, Poilievre has promised to “clear the way for pipelines” and “to support pipelines south, north, east, west.”
- Poilievre won’t commit to achieving our Paris Agreement emissions reduction targets.
- Poilievre has said he would “greenlight green projects”, but he has never spoken out against Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s moves to restrict wind and solar projects.
- He has hosted a private, $1650/plate fundraiser with oil executives.
- He has advocated for increased exports of fossil gas, claiming it will reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. There is mounting evidence that LNG is more greenhouse gas-intensive than previously estimated, and it could be worse for the climate than coal. LNG leaks methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas, more potent than carbon dioxide and worse than coal in the short term. It has no or very limited impact on coal consumption overseas and research shows new LNG infrastructure may displace the adoption of renewable energy in Asia.
Biodiversity
Poilievre’s Conservative Party has framed ecological protection as an assault on freedom and prosperity. They have:
- Described efforts to reduce plastic pollution as “government controlling our lives.”
- Opposed measures to protect endangered caribou in Quebec as an attack on the forest industry.
- Denounced measures to protect North Atlantic right whales as interfering with the “powerful paycheques” of the Atlantic lobster fishery.
Social Justice
Environmental issues cannot be understood in isolation from broader social justice issues like fair taxation and protecting democratic rights and freedoms. Pierre Poilievre has:
- Attacked “woke” as a way to undermine equity-seeking policies and people: Researchers have shown how Poilievre’s Conservatives have joined other far-right movements and parties in using the term “woke” to try and delegitimize progressive parties, people and policies and frame them as a threat to Canada’s democratic values. In the U.S., this has been followed by a wide-ranging attack on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.
- Threatened social programs: Poilievre won’t commit to keeping the recently-enacted federal child care, dental care and pharmacare programs.
- Opposed taxing the wealthy: Poilievre opposed a modest increase in capital gains inclusion rate, which would have raised taxes on the wealthiest.
- Undermined trans rights: He has fed the anti-trans backlash by refusing to acknowledge there are more than two genders and promising legislation to ban trans women from women’s sports, change rooms and bathrooms.
Greenpeace’s public criticism of Poilievre
In the past months, Greenpeace has been calling out Poilievre and the Conservatives anti-climate agenda in the media. See:
- Hamilton Spectator (February 4, 2024): Poilievre’s ‘Burn, baby, burn’ climate plan is emboldening oil lobby
- Edmonton Journal (August 2, 2024): Thoughts and prayers won’t stop wildfires
- Hamilton Spectator (October 23, 2024): Big Oil pays big bucks for private meeting with Poilievre
- National Observer (January 30, 2025): Trump and Poilievre: Big Oil’s Bodyguards
- The Hill Times (March 13, 2025): Don’t let ‘Maple MAGA’ dictate Canada’s Path
Don’t Trump Canada: Join the movement to demand a fair Canada for everyone—not just polluters and billionaires.
