The Ontario Liberals and NDP made Earth Day announcements that if elected, it would plant hundreds of millions of trees over the next eight years..The Liberals are promising 800 million trees will be planted over the next eight years, while the NDP have committed to planting one-billion by 2030..In a Friday press release, Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said he would “make Ontario place to grow again,” by planting a billion trees every year. He said the party would give municipalities and every family new trees to plant at no cost “on their.properties and in their communities.”.According to the press release, the party estimates the tree planting plan would create 2,000 new jobs in the province for recent graduates and summer students..Del Duca said the province was “once a global leader in climate action,” and pointed to the previous Liberal government’s decision to close all coal power plants in Ontario..“We have a proud history of removing pollution from our air — and we’ll do it again by planting 800 million new trees,” he said..Meanwhile, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says the party will create a “Youth Climate Corps” to help plant a billion trees. She said this would create jobs for young people while giving them a role in fighting the climate crisis. .“We have an obligation to the younger generation who are going to be faced with a disaster that they really had no hand in creating. That’s why it’s our job to address the climate crisis in a bold but achievable way,” Horwath said..Del Duca did not say how much the Liberals’ plan would cost, while Horwath said the NDP’s tree planting initiative and related youth jobs program is part of its $40 billion climate plan..A spokesperson for Premier Doug Ford ripped into the Ontario Liberals’ plan, noting on Twitter the previous Liberal government didn’t reach its goal of planting 50 million trees..“They couldn’t plant 50 million in 10 years, but sure let’s pretend they can plant 800 million trees in eight,” Ivana Yelich wrote..The federal Liberals also pledged during the 2019 election to plant two-billion trees by 2030, but.according to figures obtained through an access to information request., only 8.5 million had been planted as of November 2021..Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
