Attention News Editors: Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, issued the following statement in response to the federal government’s Speech from the Throne.
“The Government of Canada has laid out its vision for building a more resilient, fair, sustainable and secure Canada in its Speech from the Throne.
We look forward to seeing the details, over the next few months, of its actions and programs we need to protect our health and our communities both from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the floods, droughts, wildfires and ice storms of the climate change crisis.
It was, mostly, an environmentally-friendly speech. It committed the government to :
- Build on commitments to reconciliation and addressing systemic racism and environmental injustice, including co-developing and implementing detailed policies and programs with Indigenous nations;
- Enact climate accountability legislation and reform the national toxics law;
- Create thousands of jobs in home and building energy-efficiency retrofits. This is desperately needed in a province like New Brunswick, where so many seniors live on fixed incomes and where our housing stock is among the oldest in the country
- Work to reduce the impact of climate-related disasters, such as the record-breaking St. John River floods of 2018 and 2019;
- Spur renewable energy installations;
- Invest in local food production and better protect sustainable fisheries;
- Provide incentives for electric vehicles, and build out rural internet services and fund public transit;
- Protect 25 per cent of Canada’s land and water within five years;
- Set up a national Canada Water Agency; and,
- Ban single-use plastics that litter our parks, forests and beaches by next year.
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