On the eve of a major climate march in Montreal, the Green party warned that it would never support a minority government without a credible and verifiable environmental plan.
That includes any party that promotes fossil fuel projects such as the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, party leader Elizabeth May told a news conference in Montreal Thursday.
May’s comments come as several polls suggest that the Liberals and Conservatives are neck-and-neck in voting intentions, which could yield a minority government.
Both front-running parties support expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline to the West Coast.
May said she would be prepared to defeat a minority government on its first speech from the throne, even if it meant plunging the country into another election.
She said her party could “never accept” a government that does not show a profound commitment to the targets contained in the October 2018 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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“On the question of a minority government, (it would be) a very short minority government without a commitment to act immediately,” she said.
She did not want to speculate on the approach she would take if she were asked for her support in exchange for a key post in a coalition government, calling the question hypothetical.
May also discussed the central role Quebec could play in a “national electrical network” that is part of the Greens’ proposal to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2030.