World

Trudeau Team ‘Disappointed’ Over U.S. Exit From Paris Climate Accord

REUTERS/Chris Wattie

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his “climate change” minister Catherine McKenna are both “disappointed” over President Donald Trump’s decision to break with the Paris climate accord.

Trudeau and Trump exchanged words over the phone on Thursday night when the prime minister “expressed his disappointment with the president’s decision,” according to a news release from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Through crestfallen, Trudeau reiterated to the president “Canada’s continued commitment to working internationally to address climate change. This is about an ambitious and unshakable desire to leave a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable planet for our kids and for generations to come.”

Despite the lofty objectives, when Trudeau signed the Paris accord he was widely criticized in Canada by environmentalists for selling out to an agreement that they said was far too lenient on greenhouse gas producers.

Nonetheless, Liberal Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna also found Trump’s resolve to extricate the U.S. from the accord “deeply disappointing” and even suggested that the president will be missing out from the “inevitable” increase in green energy jobs that climate change proponents believe will soon be mushrooming around the world.

“The clean-growth economy is where the world is going and Canada is going to be part of it,” McKenna said Thursday on Parliament Hill.

“Canada wants to create good jobs, and wants to grow our economy and create opportunities for business. We want to be there, we want to be providing solutions for the world. We know where we’re going.”

However, the U.S. move might well affect Trudeau’s plans to implement a national carbon tax and his overall environmental agenda that many critics say will make the Canadian economy less competitive than its American counterpart. With the North American Free Trade Agreement on the cusp of renegotiation, environmental policy could well become integral to reaching a new agreement.

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