OTTAWA – The federal government’s Budget 2022 makes some promising commitments for laws that goals to assist Canadians with affordability but ignores the truth of the climate crisis, impacting people from coast to coast to coast.
“It’s socially progressive in lots of parts, but we’re missing the mark for climate because these investments are based on the improper targets,” said Green Party of Canada parliamentary Leader Elizabeth May (MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands). “We’ve got no hope of holding onto a 1.5 degree increase in global temperatures.”
The budget comes just days after the newest report from the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) delivered a stark warning that the world must rapidly abandon fossil fuels or face climate catastrophe. The budget includes billions in a recent subsidy for oil and gas, overshadowing other climate initiatives.
“We’re on a trajectory for an unlivable world, and we’ve by some means decided that we all know higher than the IPCC,” said Ms. May.
The federal government can be investing in or committing to introducing laws for childcare, pharmacare, and dental look after lower income Canadians, programs Greens have been advocating for years.
“One huge disappointment is for the incapacity community, who’ve been calling on the federal government to fast-track a Canada Disability Profit. There isn’t even a mention of it,” said Mike Morrice (MP, Kitchener Centre). “As a substitute, the only focus is a small sum of money for an employment strategy, as if the one value Canadians with disabilities offer our society is their readiness to work.”
The Green Party is pleased to see an investment in constructing 6,000 recent co-op housing units, a scale not seen for the reason that Eighties.
“There’s no silver bullet to repair the housing crisis, but a mixture of investments and policies on this budget offer some hope,” said Mr. Morrice. “It’s promising to see a commitment to finish blind bidding and tax home flippers more fairly. We’d like to make sure that housing is for people to live in, not a commodity for investors to trade.”
One other missed opportunity was the dearth of investment in public transit service.
“We’re losing bus service across the country,” said Green of Party Canada interim Leader Amita Kuttner. “Increasing transportation between communities would help our aging population, create jobs, and play a crucial role in tackling climate change. By selecting to not invest, especially in rural areas, we are usually not only forcing people into cars, but we’re failing to fulfill certainly one of the important thing recommendations of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit Peoples.”
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For more information or to rearrange an interview:
John Chenery
Media@greenparty.ca
1-613-562-4916 ext. 215
