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The heavy focus on the Paris Agreement comes as Conservative provincial governments including those in Ontario and Alberta reject the carbon tax outright, and as the Parliamentary Budget Officer prepares to release a report Thursday that will offer “an independent estimate of the additional carbon price that would be needed to achieve Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions target in 2030 under the Paris Agreement, as well as an estimate of the corresponding impact on the Canadian economy.”

We were looking forward to holding the Liberals to account for this

To criticize Trudeau for failing to reduce emissions fast enough implies either that the Tories see the Paris targets as unattainable, or that they are ready to propose alternative policies that can outperform what the Liberal government has done.

Officials in Scheer’s office are tight-lipped about the plan, but all signs point to a policy that will focus on regulations, recycling, conservation and an international component — he alluded, in an earlier policy speech, to “doing Canada’s part in the fight against climate change by lowering global emissions.”

The policy will also address the question of whether Scheer still supports the Paris accord. Two years ago, during the very early days of his leadership and on the heels of United States President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the United Nations pact, he had voted in favour of a Liberal motion that reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to it.

Liberals have tried to make hay of the Conservative party’s silence on climate policy, for example, holding a media event this spring themed around Scheer’s “lack of plan.” However, recent polling suggests Canadians are unconvinced. A poll from the Angus Reid Institute this week found respondents were more willing to trust Scheer, at 22 per cent, than Trudeau, at 15 per cent, on dealing with climate change — although Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was the runaway victor in that category with 35-per-cent support.