Trudeau hits road for green announcement in campaign-style appearance

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is back on the road doling out hundreds of millions of dollars in climate spending from his Liberal government.

Seeing the prime minister behind a podium not talking about COVID-19 is a marked shift from what millions of Canadians have grown used to over the past year.

Trudeau's announcement from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to give a steel plant up to $420 million to phase out coal-fired steelmaking fanned expectations that his government is preparing to send Canadians to the polls.

He says the groundwork for the announcement was laid out in the Liberals' spring budget.

Trudeau is also taking a dig at the Opposition Conservatives over how serious that party is about fighting climate change while growing the economy.

Trudeau holds power in a minority government and in recent weeks has criticized opposition parties for obstructing legislation important to his party.