The government’s plan to plant two billion trees by 2031 is being abandoned as revealed in Tuesday’s budget, according to insider information. Currently, there are existing contracts in place to fulfill the planting of one billion trees. This decision to drop the tree-planting goal was reported by the Globe and Mail.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who previously mentioned a “climate competitiveness strategy” in the budget, has decided to discard another significant climate initiative from the Trudeau era. This move follows the discontinuation of the consumer carbon tax and the postponement of the electric-vehicle sales mandate.
Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau initially introduced the tree-planting initiative during the 2019 election campaign, allocating $3.2 billion over a decade for the program. Uncommitted funding earmarked for this initiative will now be redirected elsewhere. Despite an initial target of one billion trees, Trudeau pushed to double the goal.
The government has faced challenges in meeting its annual tree-planting targets over the past two years, with over 228 million trees planted to date, leaving over 1.7 billion trees to be planted to reach the 2030-31 goal. Carney has indicated a focus on reducing government spending and aims to balance day-to-day spending within three years.
While there are expected budget cuts, Carney has stated that the deficit in Tuesday’s budget will surpass that of the last fiscal update. The budget will introduce changes to the tax structure to enhance competition and growth, including modifications to the tax credit for businesses’ capital expenses. The sources providing this information remain anonymous as they were not permitted to discuss the budget details publicly.