Canada’s Green Recovery Plan: Will It Help Us?

On September 23, 2020, the Throne Speech opened a new session of the 43rd Parliament. This Speech introduced the Government's direction and goals to rebuild a resilient Canada from the pandemic and how they will work towards achieving them.  

Canada’s Green Recovery Plan

Canada's Green Recovery Plan encompasses critical points from the Throne Speech as well as additional ideas. While Canada's Green Recovery Plan comes from the Federal Government, the Throne Speech comes from the Governor-General, representing the Queen. The Governor-General, Senate and House of Commons all aim to improve Canadian living. The Throne Speech sets the goals, which the Senate and House of Commons used to create the recovery plan.

The Green Recovery Plan focuses on Canada's recovery efforts from the pandemic with green resources. The Government’s Plan covers various topics: climate change and the environment, Canada's finances and economy, the deficit, and healthcare. It has been called ambitious by many, as the Government plans to spend billions of dollars to create green jobs and to boost the economy.

What is in the Green Recovery Plan?

1. Climate Action

"Climate action will be a cornerstone of our plan to support and create a million jobs across the country." Climate action is beneficial to Canada's economy and the environment. Canada's Green Recovery Plan aims to address climate change with governments at each level and to transform current fossil-fuel intensive economic systems to low-carbon.

"The Government will also legislate Canada's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050." This is a welcome step, but it seems distant. Given the need for quicker and firmer climate response, a timeline of 2030 or 2040 would make this Plan better.

The Government will also put a price on pollution. Not only will this help the economy, but also the environment while promoting less pollution from companies.

The Government will recognize farmers, foresters, and ranchers as key partners in fighting climate change by supporting them. Those who care for our soils, farms, and trees are important because they support carbon sequestration, which is key to fighting climate change.

The Government will also be expanding urban parks and green spaces across Canada. The current goal is to protect ¼ of Canada's land and ¼ of Canada's oceans in 5 years. These are ambitious goals! Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, promised to plant 2 billion trees during his election, but this ambitious plan hasn’t seen fruition either. We must acknowledge that the key for this plan's success is compliance and the inclusion of other significant issues with climate change, including coal phase-out, cleaner industries and energy sector, and carbon pricing to incentivize climate action.

2. Expanding Transportation

3. Boosting the Economy

With Canada being vast geographically and politically, it is difficult to get a unanimous decision towards the actions we need to take towards a greener economy. Provinces are shifting towards a green economy but tend to emphasize economic growth as the primary objective. Some are turning away from fossil fuel-driven economies but are still tracing progression through an economic lens.

To boost a climate-compatible economy, Canada plans to create thousands of jobs to retrofit buildings and homes to cut energy costs and support investments in renewable energy, clean energy, and technology solutions. This has the potential to lead to carbon neutrality and could be impactful if they continue to divest from non-renewables.  

4. Waste Management

The Government will ban single-use plastics in 2021 and ensure more recycling of plastis. By banning plastic, we must have better recycling plans. Knowing what is recyclable versus landfill garbage can help minimize waste that reaches landfills.

Will it help us recover?

Canada's Green Recovery Plan and the points raised in the Throne Speech are quite ambitious. While they want to improve Canada's economy in a greener way, the money being spent is just not ideal right now.

With the global pandemic, it is essential to realize that our current economic system is not sustainable. A "business-as-usual" approach will not deliver a successful recovery plan; we need progressive approaches that address environmental and racial justice, healthcare, and green infrastructure.

The plan and the Throne Speech seem quite progressive; the goals set in the Green Recovery Plan will have a major impact on the environment, particularly on the clean energy sector; however, there needs to be a genuine focus on delivering a sustainable and long term recovery.