Canada nowhere near target of planting 2B trees by 2030
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 20 Apr, 2023 10:15 AM
Canada's environment commissioner says the country is nowhere near to meeting its goal of planting two-billion trees by 2030.
The Liberals first made the massive tree-planting promise during the 2019 federal election campaign and followed through with a 10-year 3.2-billion-dollar budget for it in 2020.
However, an audit of the first two years of planting says it appears the government isn't on track to get even four per cent of the promised trees in the ground by the end of 2030.
The seven-week fall sitting started Monday with the swearing-in of Liberal Elenore Sturko, who was elected last month in the Surrey South byelection. Legislature clerk Kate Ryan-Lloyd told those gathered for the swearing-in ceremony that Sturko is the first elected official in Canada to pledge allegiance to King Charles since the recent death of the queen.
Jagjit Singh's smile fades when he's asked about the cost of living in Canada since moving from India last year. Singh and his classmates say the growing financial stresses on international students cast a shadow over the new school year's possibilities and opportunities.
People entering the country are no longer subject to random mandatory tests for the virus, and those who are unvaccinated will not need to isolate upon arrival. Anyone who entered Canada in the last two weeks and was subject to quarantine or testing is off the hook as of today.
Hot and dry conditions persist, something the superintendent of the BC Wildfire Service's predictive services said is "quite problematic," and creates conditions for potential ignitions across B.C. Temperatures are about five to eight degrees above normal for this time of year, and there's been little to no rain in several parts of B.C. in weeks.
Similar to last year, B.C. has advised public sector employers, including those in public schools, that the day should be observed as a statutory holiday by those who are normally entitled to federal and provincial stats.
The strategy will include co-operation on climate change, she said in an interview with the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, D.C. Joly also revealed she will visit Peru next week for the Organization of American States summit.