CORNER BROOK, N.L. —
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is facing criticism after rejecting Canada’s new target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in favour of a lower one first set by Stephen Harper.
His pledge comes as Canada prepares to attend the United Nations Climate Change conference this fall where countries are expected to commit more ways to tackle the issue.
In anticipation of the meeting, the Liberal government recently increased its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to between 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, up from 30 per cent.
The 30 per cent goal was set by former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper and was the commitment the country was held to under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
O’Toole says the Conservatives’ climate change plan “will meet the Paris objectives” of 30 per cent, despite the United Nations specifying the agreement works by countries coming up with “increasingly ambitious climate action” every five years.
“In the 10 days after I launched our plan in April, (Trudeau) changed his targets three times with no plan,” O’Toole said at a campaign stop in Corner Brook, N.L.
The Conservative leader touted his plan, which proposes charging a carbon price on fuel and putting more electric vehicles on the road, as one that strikes a balance between combating climate change and protecting jobs and economic growth.
“If people want to get the country working again, there’s only one option in this election: the Conservative party,” said O’Toole.
But Michael Bernstein, executive director of Clean Prosperity, which advocated for the party to adopt carbon pricing, said O’Toole’s planned cut of 30 per cent “would be a step backwards” compared to the commitments made by other G7 allies.
“If O’Toole sticks to the 30 per cent target he will be forced to revise the climate target that the current federal government has already submitted to the UN as part of the Paris treaty,” he wrote in a statement to The Canadian Press.
“This would be a violation of the Paris treaty and, while there’d be no legal impact, it would send the wrong signal to the rest of the world, including potential investors, about our commitment to climate action.”
Caroline Brouillette, a policy manager at Climate Action Network Canada said in a statement that weakening Canada’s target submitted to the UN “would not only be a diplomatic disaster, but a failure to recognize that Canada should do its fair share of the global effort to limit global warming to 1.5C.”
“Raising ambition is at the heart of the Paris Agreement. Levelling down would violate its spirit,” she said.
Greenpeace senior energy strategist Keith Stewart said O’Toole “is effectively trying to blow up the Paris climate agreement” and Clean Energy Canada executive director Merran Smith said “for Canada to go backward on this: it would worsen our contributions to climate change, hinder future trading prospects and genuinely embarrass Canada on the world stage.”
The Liberal party accused O’Toole of not only wanting to stall on reducing emissions, but “take Canada back to the Harper days of inaction.”
Trudeau announced a higher emissions-reduction target for Canada earlier this year while attending a virtual climate summit convened by U.S. President Joe Biden, who pledged to slash his country’s greenhouse gas pollution levels by 50 to 52 per cent.
The Liberal government recently inked the new goal into legislation committing Canada to hit net-zero emissions by 2050. Parliament passed the bill before its summer break despite the Conservatives voting against it.
The government, however, has yet to detail how it plans to meet its strengthened goals.
O’Toole entered the thirteenth day of the campaign by making a swing along the East Coast, stopping first in western Newfoundland, where the party hopes to win its first seat on the island in years.
The last time Newfoundland and Labrador was home to a Conservative MP was in Harper’s final term.
During an announcement in Corner Brook, where O’Toole promised to increase EI benefits for sick workers, he sidestepped questions about whether he would uphold a $5.2-billion deal Ottawa struck with the province ahead of the election call over the long-troubled Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project.
The leader later clarified that he would.
“A Conservative government under my leadership will honour the deal in place with the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador for the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project,” O’Toole said in a statement afterwards.
“We will also create jobs and boost the economy in Newfoundland and Labrador by supporting the offshore industry — a sharp contrast with the other parties who have been clear they want to shut that industry down.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2021.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.
Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.
Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.
The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
—
DEVILS 3 OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.
