OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says he will support a Liberal motion declaring climate change a national emergency if the Liberals agree to amend it to admit their climate-change plan is a hypocritical failure.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is pushing the motion partly to force the Conservatives to show their hand on their climate-change policy by voting yes or no on keeping Canada's existing international promises on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
She is accusing Scheer of developing his climate plan with oil-industry lobbyists.
Scheer says his policy will come out next month and focus on Canada's obligations on climate in a "global context."
He says the Liberals are only bringing their motion this week to distract from scandals and says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a "high-carbon hypocrite" who churns out carbon dioxide while he jets around the world on private planes.
Scheer says the Conservatives cannot support a competing motion from the NDP that is being debated today because it demands opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.