Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

No money for Liberal promise of 2 billion trees

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 02 Nov, 2020 08:40 PM
  • No money for Liberal promise of 2 billion trees

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's massive tree-planting promise from the 2019 election has yet to be allocated a single dime.

Trudeau pledged a year ago that the government would plant two billion more trees by 2030, or about 200 million extra trees per year.

Canada plants about 600 million trees a year and requires every tree harvested to be replaced with a new seedling.

Beth MacNeil, the assistant deputy minister at the Canadian Forest Service, says while consultations are underway, there is no specific plan for how the new plantings will be completed.

MacNeil told the House of Commons natural resources committee Friday that the service is still waiting to be given a budget.

Alberta Conservative MP Rachael Harder says it is "shameful" that the government still hasn't put any money toward the program.

Trudeau pitched the tree-planting program as a critical element of Canada's climate-change plan, and MacNeil says there is no "solution" for climate change that does not involve forests, which absorb and store carbon dioxide.

MORE National ARTICLES

NDP takes Liberal legislation as 'major win'

NDP takes Liberal legislation as 'major win'
"This is a major win," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters in Ottawa.That leaves the New Democrats as the Liberals' most likely dance partner but Singh had conditions of his own: legislation assuring that Canadians left jobless due to the pandemic won't have their emergency benefits cut. 

NDP takes Liberal legislation as 'major win'

Feds bump up value of post-CERB benefits

Feds bump up value of post-CERB benefits
The same $500-a-week floor would be placed under employment insurance benefits for those eligible for the program.

Feds bump up value of post-CERB benefits

Liberals pledge action on biases in justice system

Liberals pledge action on biases in justice system
The throne speech pledges action on issues ranging from sentencing and rehabilitation to improved civilian oversight of the RCMP and standards on the use of force.

Liberals pledge action on biases in justice system

Sanders on U.S. election: 'Democracy must win'

Sanders on U.S. election: 'Democracy must win'
Firebrand Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders is sounding the alarm over Donald Trump's refusal to promise a peaceful transfer of power next year.

Sanders on U.S. election: 'Democracy must win'

Leave regulators to approve COVID tests: Freeland

Leave regulators to approve COVID tests: Freeland
Deputy Conservative leader Candice Bergen says the government promised in March that getting rapid tests was a priority and yet half a year later, there are still none in use in Canada.

Leave regulators to approve COVID tests: Freeland

Pandemic doesn't reduce jail time: Nunavut judge

Pandemic doesn't reduce jail time: Nunavut judge
The Criminal Code says judges can deduct up to 1 1/2 days from an offender's sentence for each day served in remand.

Pandemic doesn't reduce jail time: Nunavut judge