REPORT from OTTAWA Rapport d’Ottawa

by/par Carol Hughes Federal member of Parliament Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing

Duringthe2019election,theLiberalsput forwardacommitmenttoplanttwobilliontrees across the country by 2030 as one prong to countertheeffectsofclimatechange.Theideais that, by planting more trees across the country, Canada can better manage its net-zero carbon commitments, restore nature and biodiversity, improvewaterandairquality,andthemyriadof other benefits increased tree growth provides.A year later, the government put forward both a plan and a financial commitment to do just that, with $3.2 billion earmarked in the 2020 fall economicstatementforthe2BillionTrees(2BT) program.

How's that program going? Not well, according to Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco. In an audit conducted by the commissioner's office, his office found that the governmentwasnearlyontracktomeetitsfirstyeartargetgoaltoplant30milliontreesin2021. However, come the end of 2022, the Commissioner noted that the government, in a best-case scenario, would reach only 2.3% of their intended goal, estimating that only 16.5 million trees would have been planted that year. His audit further noted that the government had signed agreements so far that would plant only 76.2milliontreesby2030,whichwouldputthe government slightly under four percent of their totalgoalofplanting2billiontrees.

It'ssomewhatunderstandablethatsucha program, a clearly massive undertaking, would take some time to get off the ground. Tree plantingisacomplicatedprocess,andinorderto make this commitment work, it would require a significant number of long-term deals with tree growing organizations, with enough time to ensure that seedlings are prepared and ready to plant. According to the report, in order for the government to achieve their stated goal, they wouldneedtosecure,ataminimum,anincreased demand of 350 million seedlings per year. The processforgrowingseedlingsistimeconsuming and, depending on the type of tree, can take anywherefromafewmonthstoseveralyearsto growbeforetheyareabletobeplanted.Theaudit notes that the government was in the process of negotiating agreements with tree-planting partnersbuthassofarsigneddealswithonly23.

Partnerships with provincial and territorial governments, which would represent two-thirds of all trees planted under the federal