Climate activist Greta Thunberg took a direct jab at Justin Trudeau’s environmental record, sharing an op-ed on Twitter criticizing the prime minister’s hypocrisy on climate change.
The opinion piece, which was published in The Guardian, argues that Trudeau’s record is “disturbing in a different way” from Trump or Putin’s because he pretends to care — but fails to act on it.
“Trudeau, for all his charms, doesn’t get to have it both ways,” said writer Bill McKibben in the piece. “If you can’t bring yourself to stop a brand-new tar sands mine then you’re not a climate leader.”
Thunberg and Trudeau previously met when the 17-year-old environmentalist was in Montreal as part of her climate strike rallies around the world. When asked about the prime minister, Thunberg said that he was “obviously not doing enough.”
Trudeau said he agreed with her.
During the 2019 election, Trudeau aligned himself with Thunberg on the campaign trail by positioning the environment as a key issue. When the Liberals released their climate plan, they were called out by the NDP for buying the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
Trudeau’s government has been called out by Indigenous groups for withholding information from them during consultations about the pipeline. A legal challenge from First Nations against the pipeline was later dismissed in the Federal Court of Appeal.
In Alberta, the Liberals are facing the decision to approve or reject a $20.6-billion oilsands mine near Fort McMurray. A government report found that Alberta’s oilsands are releasing an average of one-third more carbon dioxide per oil barrel than they report.
In her tweet, Thunberg quoted an especially condemning excerpt from the piece: “If an alcoholic assured you he was taking his condition very seriously, but also laying in a 40-year store of bourbon, you’d be entitled to doubt his sincerity.”
With files from The Canadian Press.