NEW – Federal: Government releases plan for ‘a healthy environment and a healthy economy’

On December 11, 2020, the federal government announced a plan that it believes can provide for a healthy environment while strengthening the economy.

A main objective of A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy is to build on the government’s commitment in the 2020 Speech from the Throne to create over one million jobs, restoring employment to pre-pandemic levels.

The plan includes 64 new measures and $15 billion in investments in addition to the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s $6 billion for clean infrastructure announced this fall as part of its growth plan.

The government says the Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy plan will make life more affordable for households. It also claims the plan will make Canadian communities more livable and it will, at every turn, focus on workers and their careers in a fair and just transition to a stronger and cleaner economy. The plan will do this through five pillars. They are:

• Make the places we live and gather more affordable by cutting energy waste: Cut pollution, make life more affordable, and create thousands of good new jobs by making it easier for Canadians to improve the energy efficiency of the places where they live and gather, including through investments in retrofits.
• Make clean, affordable transportation and power available in every community: Build cleaner communities and help Canadians get around in more affordable ways by expanding the supply of clean electricity through investments and other measures to increase renewables and next-generation clean energy and technology.
• Continue to ensure pollution isn’t free and households get more money back: Give more money back to households in a way that leaves the majority of them better off, and reduce pollution, by continuing to put a rising price on pollution through to 2030.
• Build Canada’s clean industrial advantage: Create economic growth, cut pollution, and ensure Canadians continue to have good-paying and long-lasting jobs by helping Canadian businesses reduce emissions and make low-carbon products that the world wants to buy now and into the future.
• Embrace the power of nature to support healthier families and more resilient communities: Cut pollution, clean the air we breathe, create jobs, and make our communities more resilient to extreme weather by planting two billion trees, supporting sustainable farming, and better managing, conserving, and restoring our nature.

The federal government had indicated it plans to consult with provinces and territories, Indigenous partners, and Canadians in all socio-economic sectors to further elaborate a strong plan for a healthier environment and economy.

The CPA will be looking for opportunities to ensure that the voice of Canada’s propane industry is heard in areas where propane can play an important role in helping to fight climate change and grow the economy.

For more information contact Allan Murphy, Vice- President of Government Relations at allanmurphy@propane.ca.