Climate misinformation is exploding — and Canadian politicians are spreading it

Climate misinformation is exploding — and Canadian politicians are spreading it

Like climate change itself, conspiracy theories and misinformation are growing crises. And where they intersect with the environment, the problem seems to spread like wildfire — one that might be caused by laser beams, eco-terrorists or the Canadian government, depending who you ask. 

Year after year, poll after poll has consistently shown a majority of Canadians believe in human-caused climate change. But across the country, Conservative politicians are fomenting weariness and skepticism about climate science to appeal to their bases and undermine their opponents — and it appears to be working. 

The BC Conservative party, which won 44 seats in the recent provincial election, narrowly losing to the embattled NDP, is led by John Rustad — a man who has called global warming due to carbon emissions “a lie” and said climate action was part of an agenda to reduce the world’s population. 

During the election campaign, Rustad acknowledged climate change was “real” but stressed that in his view it was “not a crisis”. His party, which had not held a single seat since 1979, shot from 1.9 per cent of the popular vote in 2020 to 43.3 per cent in 2024, cannibalizing support from the imploded BC United party and winning over scores of voters furious with the status quo.

Rustad’s strong showing came just over a year after a national poll conducted in July 2023, in the midst of Canada’s worst wildfire season on record. It found 58 per cent of British Columbians were convinced human activity was responsible for climate change — a lower share than residents of Ontario, Quebec or the Atlantic region.