Cabinet is off to a slow start on the 2019 promise by then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna to plant two billion trees. Authorities complained seedlings take too long to grow, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“The Department of Natural Resources will consolidate and validate the data and is expected to publicly disclose the results of the 2022 tree planting season in late spring of 2023,” staff wrote in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons. The department said it knew of 28,891,585 tree plantings to date. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson had claimed 30,000,000 were planted..“Growing seedlings takes two or three years,” Wilkinson testified last May 18 at the Commons natural resources committee. “I’ve never understand why these kinds of discussions have to be so confrontational,” he added..“We have been planting those seedlings through the various agencies that exist,” said Wilkinson. “We have been very public that the numbers are going to ramp up over the next number of years. We are very comfortable that we are on track to get to two billion trees.”.The latest figures were requested by Conservative MP John Nater (Perth-Wellington, Ont.) who asked, “How many tees were planted to date?” The Inquiry said the largest number, 14 million, were planted in Québec followed by British Columbia (10.5 million), Alberta (1.6 million), New Brunswick (1.1 million), Ontario (925,000), Manitoba (257,000), Saskatchewan (145,000), Newfoundland and Labrador (67,000), Nova Scotia (37,000) and Prince Edward Island (5,000)..“We often get the question, where are those two billion trees?” Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, MB), parliamentary secretary to the Government House Leader, told the Commons last December 8. “They start as seedlings and it takes a little while for them to grow.”.The Liberal Party in its 2019 platform Forward: A Real Plan For The Middle Class proposed to plant two billion trees within a decade. “We will plant two billion trees to clean our air and protect our communities,” said the document. “This will help create 3,500 seasonal jobs in tree planting each year.”.“Trees are a huge asset, providing shade and cooling,” Environment Minister McKenna said at the time. “Our Party’s commitment to tree planting is an opportunity to get more trees planted where they’re needed most.”.Canada has 318 billion trees, according to the Yale School of Forestry. Forestry companies must replant as many trees as they cut under Crown licenses, about 600 million trees a year. Federal data show in the decade from 2007 to 2017 timber companies and provinces planted 5.6 billion trees, nearly triple the federal plan..“The industry in Alberta planted more than 100 million trees in 2021 and in Ontario 36.7 million trees,” Conservative MP Earl Dreeshen (Red Deer-Mountain View, Alta.) told the Commons natural resources committee last November 22. “British Columbia plants on average 218 million trees a year. Industry is doing that. They are doing their part. It’s a great photo op to be able to talk about these things.”
Cabinet is off to a slow start on the 2019 promise by then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna to plant two billion trees. Authorities complained seedlings take too long to grow, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“The Department of Natural Resources will consolidate and validate the data and is expected to publicly disclose the results of the 2022 tree planting season in late spring of 2023,” staff wrote in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons. The department said it knew of 28,891,585 tree plantings to date. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson had claimed 30,000,000 were planted..“Growing seedlings takes two or three years,” Wilkinson testified last May 18 at the Commons natural resources committee. “I’ve never understand why these kinds of discussions have to be so confrontational,” he added..“We have been planting those seedlings through the various agencies that exist,” said Wilkinson. “We have been very public that the numbers are going to ramp up over the next number of years. We are very comfortable that we are on track to get to two billion trees.”.The latest figures were requested by Conservative MP John Nater (Perth-Wellington, Ont.) who asked, “How many tees were planted to date?” The Inquiry said the largest number, 14 million, were planted in Québec followed by British Columbia (10.5 million), Alberta (1.6 million), New Brunswick (1.1 million), Ontario (925,000), Manitoba (257,000), Saskatchewan (145,000), Newfoundland and Labrador (67,000), Nova Scotia (37,000) and Prince Edward Island (5,000)..“We often get the question, where are those two billion trees?” Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, MB), parliamentary secretary to the Government House Leader, told the Commons last December 8. “They start as seedlings and it takes a little while for them to grow.”.The Liberal Party in its 2019 platform Forward: A Real Plan For The Middle Class proposed to plant two billion trees within a decade. “We will plant two billion trees to clean our air and protect our communities,” said the document. “This will help create 3,500 seasonal jobs in tree planting each year.”.“Trees are a huge asset, providing shade and cooling,” Environment Minister McKenna said at the time. “Our Party’s commitment to tree planting is an opportunity to get more trees planted where they’re needed most.”.Canada has 318 billion trees, according to the Yale School of Forestry. Forestry companies must replant as many trees as they cut under Crown licenses, about 600 million trees a year. Federal data show in the decade from 2007 to 2017 timber companies and provinces planted 5.6 billion trees, nearly triple the federal plan..“The industry in Alberta planted more than 100 million trees in 2021 and in Ontario 36.7 million trees,” Conservative MP Earl Dreeshen (Red Deer-Mountain View, Alta.) told the Commons natural resources committee last November 22. “British Columbia plants on average 218 million trees a year. Industry is doing that. They are doing their part. It’s a great photo op to be able to talk about these things.”
