This column originally appeared in Juno News.

Mark Carney has a problem.

The problem is that he and his party are fanatically devoted to a set of policies which make everyday life in Canada more expensive.

I’m talking about the policies which grow out of Net-Zero, the idea that we can perfectly balance all carbon dioxide emitted through human activity by removing the same amount from the atmosphere.

Perhaps that sounds harmless enough, but Net-Zero – which the Liberal government legally committed us to in 2021 – means slashing emissions, or trying to, using laws and regulations which will sound familiar to anyone who has paid attention to Canadian politics since the Trudeau-Carney Liberals came to power more than ten years ago.

Net-Zero means emissions caps. It means carbon taxes. It means EV mandates. It means the so-called “Clean” Fuel Standard. It means the laws and regulations which make it nearly impossible to get pipelines and other key infrastructure built in this country. And on and on.

Every one of those policies make it harder to live in Canada. In one way or another, every one saps our economic vitality, kills job growth, and raises the cost of living. Especially the cost of filling up your car, of heating your home, and of putting food on the table.

Each one strains our already-stressed electrical grid, either by reducing supply, in the case of “Green” energy production, or increasing demand, in the case of the EV mandate and the wider electrification craze. This is something we should all be particularly aware of in a cold winter like this one. Countries that are blessed with the natural resource supply we have shouldn’t have to endure regular grid alerts and energy conservation warnings, as we’ve seen in various provinces this winter.

Now, the Liberals have been in power for more than a decade. And in that time, for all of the effort they’ve put into it, all of the chains they’ve placed on our economy, and all of the money they’ve thrown at it – the Fraser Institute estimates the price tag for spending and tax initiatives for the Federal and Provincial governments at more than $150 billion – have they brought us appreciably closer to achieving Net-Zero?

They have not.

We have seen a modest reduction in carbon emissions, mainly due to the transition from coal to natural gas and nuclear. But nothing like their commitment to achieve 40 – 45 per cent reductions by 2030, or their more recent pledge to hit 45 – 50 per cent by 2035.

We’re a long way from Net-Zero by 2050.

Meanwhile, the bills are starting to come due. Ottawa’s big bet on Electric Vehicles (backed up by the EV mandate) is falling apart, due to disinterest in the product both at home and abroad.

Gas prices have been trending in the wrong direction for a long time, a fact to which my work at Gas Wizard attests daily. Energy prices have outpaced income growth, and the number of Canadians classified as “energy poor,” has increased.

Food prices are up 27 per cent over the past five years, while grocery price inflation is the highest it’s been in years.

And Canadians are starting to notice. Abacus Data has found that “Fully 67 per cent of Canadians say the cost of living where they live is the worst they can ever remember it being.”

Any sane political consultant would tell the Liberals that, if they really want that majority they’re so desperate for, they need to slam the brakes. But that isn’t going to happen.

Remember, Mark Carney is a true believer in this stuff. He founded the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero (GFANZ). He was the U.N. Special Envoy for Climate.

He’s going to stay the course. And the only way he can think to do that is by allying with China.

China is the magic bullet for the Liberals pursuit of Net-Zero.

This isn’t new. China has long had a near-monopoly on the manufacture of solar panels and wind turbines. For some key components they have an actual monopoly. “Green” energy enthusiasts long ago accepted that they have to do business with China or they can’t do business at all.

Carney’s recent deal with China, which allows their heavily-subsidized EVs into the Canadian market – even if it leaves our own automakers out in the cold – suggests that Carney plans to enhance this dynamic, as does the announcement that the deal commits us to a partnership with China in “clean technology and climate competitiveness” and and to “scaling up investments in batteries, solar, wind, and energy storage.”

Never mind the fact that China leads the world in new coal-fired energy capacity, by a big margin. In 2025, more than 75 per cent of new coal power plants globally were based in China.

And never mind the fact that China has led the world in emissions, also by a big margin, for the past 20 years.

It’s madness!

In short, Canadians are footing the bill for a Net-Zero fantasy that enriches China while increasing global emissions, and leaves our own country poorer, colder, and less free.

So enjoy your BYD Dolphin, or even your Shanghai-built Tesla. They might be the last cars you can ever afford.