By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer
Whether you are rich or poor, a climate change activist or denier, the Conservative party seems to want to appeal to everyone. They’ve used the tactic of remaining as vague as possible about their beliefs, often disguising their policies as common sense and for the people. Upon further examination of their policy declaration, it’s clear that many are lies. While the Conservatives claim they care about persecuted peoples and the climate, sections within their own policy declaration directly contradict this.
Section 175 of the policy declaration states they want to emphasize Canadians’ right to religious freedom and advocate for persecuted religious minorities across the world. However, the party notes that it “recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” which is an odd statement to include in a policy declaration, as there are no other statements with similar land acknowledgments for other countries. There are no mentions of Palestinian statehood, which the Conservatives were strongly against when it came time for Canada to vote on the subject at the United Nations. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has committed war crimes such as genocide, forced displacement, land annexation, and many more. Nearly “99% of Palestinians are Muslims” and would classify as a persecuted religious minority according to the policy declaration, yet there has been no acknowledgement of these war crimes. While the Conservatives claim they advocate for persecuted people, when it comes time to take action, they endorse the oppressor.
Under section 68, the Conservatives state they are focused on providing Canada with clean air, water, land, climate, and biodiversity. These environmental principles are truly meaningless considering climate denialism runs rampant within the party.
“Poillievre’s fierce insistence of axing the tax is not only the wrong way to go about addressing the affordability crisis in Canada, but also a factor that enables climate scepticism during a time where more action is needed.”
Conservative party leader Pierre Poillievre’s entire campaign is built on “axing the carbon tax” with the claim it will let you take home more money. According to Macleans, however, “The majority of taxpayers receive more money in rebates than they pay in carbon taxes.” Simply put, it will not save us money on groceries. Axing the tax would lead to more environmental damage in the long run, since it no longer incentivizes clean energy alternatives. Poillievre’s fierce insistence of axing the tax is not only the wrong way to go about addressing the affordability crisis in Canada, but also a factor that enables climate scepticism during a time where more action is needed.
To ensure the principles listed under section 68 are upheld, there needs to be an emphasis on guaranteeing people understand how climate change contributes to environmental degradation. “Common sense” seems to be absent from the conservative agenda when it comes to this discourse. In 2021, members of the Conservative party voted against acknowledging climate change as a “real issue.” Adapting to environmentally conscious policies has clearly not been part of the conservative agenda, making their statement more of a decorative piece instead of one with any weight.
While the Conservatives confidently state their commitment to a thriving future for Canadians, their promises are not just hollow, but blatant lies. Their policy declaration isn’t just poorly put together, it is a desperate attempt to convince the people that the skeletons in the Conservative party closet should be overlooked.
