Â鶹´«Ã½

Politics

    • Canada has only planted 29 million of the 2 billion trees promised by 2030

    Share
    OTTAWA -

    The federal government is two years and just 29 million trees into its campaign promise to plant two billion trees by 2030, coming in below the goal it set last year.

    During the 2019 campaign, the Liberals committed to planting two billion trees this decade, but so far are falling short at nearly 1.5 per cent of the end goal, something they attribute to the years it takes to grow seedlings that can then be planted.

    Despite this, Natural Resources Canada says the government is on track, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lauded the project at a tree planting event in Sudbury on Thursday.

    Trudeau was joined by Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault and anthropologist and primatologist Jane Goodall to celebrate the area’s re-greening efforts and plant the city’s 10 millionth tree.

    The prime minister called projects like the one in Sudbury an “integral part†of how the government can reach its tree planting goal.

    Spread out over the 10-year commitment, the government would need to plant an additional 200 million trees a year beyond current tallies. That’s nearly 548,000 trees a day, however, tree planting is a seasonal effort and can’t be done year-round, instead taking place during four to five months of the year.

    Natural Resources Canada set out to put 30 million seedlings in the ground last year, in partnership with organizations and projects vetted by an expert panel.

    Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson called the 2021 planting season a “success†in a statement released last month.

    “We have achieved 97 percent of our planting target and are on track to plant two billion trees over the course of 10 years,†he wrote.

    Wilkinson said the government now plans to sign longer-term partnerships so it can ramp up planting between 250 and 350 trees a year by 2026. The lower planting targets in the next few years are meant to account for the time it takes to grow a seedling enough to be planted.

    “The program is working to build a strong foundation by focusing on long-term agreements with tree-planting organizations that will in turn fuel stable demand on nurseries,†wrote Keean Nembhard, a spokesperson for the minister of natural resources, in an email to CTVNews.ca on Thursday.

    “As contribution agreements are signed and purchase orders are made, nurseries will be able to invest in infrastructure and seedling production,†he added.

    The goal of the two-billion-tree target, according to the government, is to boost both climate change efforts and the economy, creating thousands of jobs while reaping the benefits of two billion more trees in the environment.

    A Parliamentary Budget Office report from January stated the plan to plant two billion trees by 2030 would cost nearly double what the Liberals budgeted.

    IN DEPTH

    Opinion

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster

    A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

    When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.

    BREAKING

    BREAKING

    An 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in a caught-on-video incident in Mississauga earlier this month is now facing auto theft charges in Toronto.

    Video of a B.C. man's surprise encounter with a black bear has gone viral online, generating much discussion about how to best respond when face-to-face with an aggressive animal.

    Canada

    • We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.

    • The calls are growing louder for city council to tighten the rules governing short-term accommodations, including those advertised on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo, after students arrived by the busload at a rented house in the Masonville neighbourhood.

    • Video of a B.C. man's surprise encounter with a black bear has gone viral online, generating much discussion about how to best respond when face-to-face with an aggressive animal.

    • BREAKING

      BREAKING

      An 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in a caught-on-video incident in Mississauga earlier this month is now facing auto theft charges in Toronto.

    • A Calgary man is facing child pornography charges after an investigation uncovered years of messages exchanged with an alleged felon.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    Sports

    • Reid Carruthers seeks a three-peat in curling's quirky PointsBet Invitational that's become an unofficial season kickoff because of money, field and visibility.

    • Cole Perfetti will suit up for the Winnipeg Jets for another two years.

    • The Boston Red Sox kept their playoff hopes alive on Monday by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 in the first of a three-game road series.

    Autos

    • The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported this week that officers in the agency's Montreal Marine and Rail Services seized 78 vehicles and transferred them to police. Numbers of stolen vehicles in Quebec continue to skyrocket.

    Local Spotlight

    Giant gourds took over a Manitoba community this weekend.

    Fire has destroyed a barn and 17,000 plants at a family-owned business in Lower Coverdale, N.B.

    Before influencers on social media, Canada’s Jeanne Beker was bringing the world of high fashion down to earth and as Calgary’s Glenbow Museum gets a major make-over, it will include a new exhibition showcasing the pop culture icon.

    A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

    A Nova Scotian YouTuber has launched a mini-truck bookmobile.

    Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

    Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

    An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

    They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    • Video of a B.C. man's surprise encounter with a black bear has gone viral online, generating much discussion about how to best respond when face-to-face with an aggressive animal.

    • A man and a woman from Nanaimo, B.C., are facing more than two dozen charges after police seized four guns and several hundred grams of illicit drugs following a complaint about drug trafficking in the city's downtown core.

    • Former British Columbia chief coroner Lisa Lapointe is slated to appear alongside BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau for a policy announcement in Victoria related to the province's illicit-toxic drug crisis.

    • BREAKING

      BREAKING

      An 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in a caught-on-video incident in Mississauga earlier this month is now facing auto theft charges in Toronto.

    • Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, season is just a few months away, but new vaccine options have already arrived for Ontario residents who may be vulnerable to the winter bug.

    • Premier Doug Ford is standing behind comments he made suggesting that people living in encampments “just need to get a job to lift themselves out of poverty.â€

    • A Calgary man is facing child pornography charges after an investigation uncovered years of messages exchanged with an alleged felon.

    • A man is in critical condition following a shooting in the northeast Calgary community of Cityscape.

    • A former Lethbridge pastor who bilked millions out of hundreds of southern Albertans has appealed his conviction and sentence.

    • BREAKING NEWS

      BREAKING NEWS

      Ottawa police say there is an ongoing investigation at Glebe Collegiate Institute.

    • Ottawa police say a 26-year-old man has been arrested following a several assaults on passengers travelling on OC Transpo vehicles Monday morning.

    • The Canada Revenue Agency has provided new data on the number of employees who were found to have received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    • A fire in a container at one of the Port of Montreal's terminals prompted the city to issue a containment notice for the area adjacent to the port on Monday evening, in the Mercier--Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

    • The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported this week that officers in the agency's Montreal Marine and Rail Services seized 78 vehicles and transferred them to police. Numbers of stolen vehicles in Quebec continue to skyrocket.

    • Montreal police (SPVM) are investigating after a man was stabbed shortly before midnight in the St. Henri neighbourhood.

    • DEVELOPING

      DEVELOPING

      Traffic is delayed in southeast Edmonton as a result of a crash involving an LRT train and a semi.

    • The Edmonton International Airport will conduct an aircraft training exercise on Wednesday morning.

    • Hall of Fame hockey player Mark Messier will be among the on-air talent for Amazon's new NHL broadcast.

    • NEW

      NEW

      Antigonish County District RCMP is trying to track down a man wanted on a provincewide arrest warrant for sexual assault in Nova Scotia.

    • Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative government has announced it will build four new schools in the Halifax region as part of its school capital plan for the area.

    • A candidate for Halifax mayor says the municipality's approach to homeless encampments has encouraged unhoused people from across the country to move to the city to live in tents. But housing advocates and a city councillor say that claim is untrue.

    • A dry, fly-in First Nation in northern Manitoba is putting drug and alcohol smugglers on notice.

    • It was a tragic ending to the search for a six-year-old boy in northeastern Manitoba who had been missing since Wednesday.

    • Health care is shaping up to be a major issue for this fall’s provincial election in Saskatchewan and on Monday both the Sask. Party and NDP announced plans on how they will work to improve the sector if elected this fall.

    • Regina police will be conducting a two-day traffic blitz in and around the city Tuesday and Wednesday.

    • The Saskatchewan Government is in the province's highest court fighting to prevent a Court of King’s Bench judge from determining if its Parents' Bill of Rights actually violates the Charter.

    • A reward of up to $50K has been issued by Waterloo Regional Police for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Joshua Bennett.

    • Police were called to a business in the area of University Avenue East and Weber Street North at around 10:40 p.m. Saturday for a report of a man attempting to stab another man.

    • Officials say Lixian, 29, is known to frequent Waterloo Region, Toronto and Niagara Falls.

    • The Saskatchewan Government is in the province's highest court fighting to prevent a Court of King’s Bench judge from determining if its Parents' Bill of Rights actually violates the Charter.

    • Fire crews are battling a blaze at the Candle Lake Golf Course clubhouse on Monday morning.

    • The Saskatchewan Ministry of Education says a woman facing an assault charge is no longer working at a private Christian school where the alleged incident took place.

    • We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.

    • A Verner man, 35, is charged in connection with a fatal crash on Highway 17 last month that killed one and sent another to hospital.

    • A London man charged with criminal harassment following an incident outside the Parkhill Public Library during a Drag Queen story reading on April 29, 2023, has been found not guilty.

    • The calls are growing louder for city council to tighten the rules governing short-term accommodations, including those advertised on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo, after students arrived by the busload at a rented house in the Masonville neighbourhood.

    • Showers are expected to push into the region through the afternoon as a moisture laden system moves into the Great Lakes Basin.

    • Four puppies were found near County Road 21 in Essa after a passerby spotted one when it ran out of the ditch and onto the road.

    • A 17-year-old boy faces several charges and police are on the hunt for several more suspects following an armed home invasion and theft in Orillia.

    • Residents of Barrie are asked to weigh in on the future of the waterfront during a public meeting on Tuesday.

    • A man swimming across the Detroit River from Windsor to Detroit was rescued by a mail boat, according to the J.W. Westcott Company.

    • Residents living in a Tecumseh neighbourhood had an unusual sighting over the weekend.

    • Windsor police say a 37-year-old man accused of attempted murder has been arrested and charged with violating his bail conditions.

    • A man and a woman from Nanaimo, B.C., are facing more than two dozen charges after police seized four guns and several hundred grams of illicit drugs following a complaint about drug trafficking in the city's downtown core.

    • Former British Columbia chief coroner Lisa Lapointe is slated to appear alongside BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau for a policy announcement in Victoria related to the province's illicit-toxic drug crisis.

    • Video of a B.C. man's surprise encounter with a black bear has gone viral online, generating much discussion about how to best respond when face-to-face with an aggressive animal.

    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

    • The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

    • Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.

    • Authorities arrested a man from Pincher Creek after shots were fired near a home on the Blood Tribe First Nation.

    • A former Lethbridge pastor who bilked millions out of hundreds of southern Albertans has appealed his conviction and sentence.

    • Farmers in southern Alberta are working to wrap up harvest, with 80 per cent of major crops in the bin, according to the province's latest crop report.

    • A 25-year-old suspect was charged with impaired driving Sept. 21 after police spotted two people without helmets on an ATV on Sand Bay Road in Goulais River.

    • A federal offender who was last seen in Sudbury is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for allegedly breaching his statutory release conditions.

    • Opening arguments are expected to begin in the sexual assault trial of former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard at a northern Ontario courthouse Tuesday.

    N.L.

    Stay Connected
    Follow Â鶹´«Ã½