The Department of Natural Resources in an internal memo acknowledged the Trudeau Liberals' 2019 pledge to plant two billion trees within a decade was fake.“Two billion trees” was picked as an inspirational slogan and should not be taken literally, said the February 15 briefing note, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. Federal officials "sought a name that would inspire that commitment and participation. So far that has worked,” read the memo. The department said the “two billion trees” program is currently running off-target and behind schedule. It now estimates only a fifth as many trees will be planted by 2031, not two billion by 2029 as originally promised.“To date the Government of Canada has signed or is in the process of negotiating agreements that will result in 393 million trees planted by 2031. We are actively engaged with all partners on how to move ahead,” it said. The department described tree planting as complex. “Tree planting requires careful planning to ensure the right tree is planted in the right place at the right time for the right reasons,” wrote officials. Different species and sizes of trees are required in different planting projects across the country.”“The Government of Canada remains committed to planting two billion trees but tree planning at this scale takes time.”The department did not set a deadline for achieving the promised two billion trees.“The process of planting a tree takes several years and includes steps like collecting seeds, increasing nursery capacity, growing seedlings until they are large enough to be planted in the ground and identifying available land. Many of these activities are seasonal,” it said. While the Trudeau Liberals initially budgeted costs at $3.16 billion over ten years, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) in a 2021 report said actual expenses would nearly double to $5.94 billion.The Liberal Party in its 2019 election platform made the promise to plant two billion trees within a decade. “We will plant two billion trees to clean our air and protect our communities,” the Liberals wrote in their campaign documents. “This will help create 3,500 seasonal jobs in tree planting each year.”Department managers in May 21 testimony at the Senate National Finance Committee were vague on achievements to date. “We had initial projections and we continue to calibrate those,” testified Glenn Hargrove, assistant deputy natural resources minister.“Could you sort of anticipate any completion date?” asked Sen. Larry Smith.“I can’t give an exact date on when the two billion trees will be planted exactly,” replied Hargrove.The program has been widely challenged by critics. Canada already has 318 billion trees, by official estimate. Forestry companies currently plant about 600 million trees annually as a condition of cutting on Crown land.
