QUESTION PERIOD — Natural Resources
Growing Canada’s Forests Program
June 21, 2021
Honourable senators, my question is to the leader.
In the 2019 election campaign, the Trudeau government announced a plan to plant 2 billion trees over the next 10 years to help combat climate change. We learned, as late as last November, more than a year after the announcement had been made, that the program had yet to be funded and not a single tree had been planted. This government is quick to impose carbon taxes on Canadian farmers on the front lines of implementing solutions to fight climate change but slower than slow when it comes to keeping its promise to plant 2 billion trees.
Back in November, we were told that planting would begin in the spring of 2021. Here we are on the first day of summer. Senator Gold, how many trees have been planted so far this spring? How far behind is your government on this 10-year project?
Clearly, I don’t have the specific answer, but there is no question that the last year has seen delays in this program. There are delays in other programs, such as the passage of Bill C-12 in the other place.
This government remains committed to moving forward to ensure a responsible and sustainable approach to climate change.
I guess you can inquire about the number, how many trees were planted this past spring.
In making its tree-planting announcement, your government estimated it would cost $3.16 billion over 10 years. In what is becoming a pattern with the Trudeau government, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said it would actually cost nearly twice that amount, $5.78 billion.
Leader, given the delay in getting under way, how many trees now need to be planted annually? What changes have been made to the program to accommodate this delay? What is the estimated final cost of the program, taking into account both the delay and the PBO’s findings?
These are all legitimate questions. I’ll make inquiries and report back.
