Advertisement

Tories slam federal government’s decision to give Loblaws $12M for new refrigerators

Click to play video: 'Catherine McKenna defends giving Loblaws $12M for new fridges'
Catherine McKenna defends giving Loblaws $12M for new fridges
WATCH: Catherine McKenna defends giving Loblaws $12M for new fridges – Apr 9, 2019

Conservative environment critic Ed Fast is slamming the federal government’s decision to give $12 million to help Loblaws stores make their refrigerators and freezers more energy-efficient.

Fast says he is curious how many ordinary Canadians could just walk into the prime minister’s office and ask him to buy them a new fridge.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna announced the funds for Loblaws at a Loblaws Superstore in her Ottawa riding Monday, to cover one-quarter of the costs of retrofitting the refrigeration systems in 370 of the company’s supermarkets over the next three years.

Breaking news from Canada and around the world sent to your email, as it happens.

She says the greenhouse-gas emissions reduced through the project will cut Loblaws’ overall emissions by nearly a fourth and be the equivalent of taking 50,000 cars off the road.

Story continues below advertisement

WATCH: McKenna defends feds giving millions to help Loblaw buy new fridges

Click to play video: 'McKenna defends feds giving millions to help Loblaw buy new fridges'
McKenna defends feds giving millions to help Loblaw buy new fridges

The funds come from a $450-million national challenge run by the government inviting companies to apply for money, with the winning bids selected based on which projects are expected to achieve the deepest emissions cuts.

A spokeswoman for McKenna says small businesses can apply to a separate fund for help to cut their emissions and an announcement is coming soon on the carbon-tax rebates promised for them.

Sponsored content

AdChoices