Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat.
Keith Brooks, Programs Director:
“This budget is intended to be geared towards younger generations, but it fails to deal with a major source of anxiety for young people by offering little to address climate change. Young people will bear the brunt of the impacts of the climate crisis. Canada is poised for another disastrous wildfire season, but this budget fails to give the climate crisis the attention it urgently deserves.”
Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate:
“Across Canada people are suffering from the cost of living crisis, which is being driven in large part by the massive profits of oil and gas companies. A windfall tax on their profits could have been used to support Canadians and fund climate solutions across the country. Instead, Minister Freeland caved to fossil fuel lobbying, putting the interests of wealthy fossil fuel executives ahead of the rest of us.”
Nate Wallace, Clean Transportation Program Manager:
“Canada’s budget confirmed that the government will continue to delay the forthcoming Permanent Public Transit Fund until after the next federal election. Despite earlier comments from Minister Pablo Rodriguez indicating they’re “not ruling out” accelerating the funding, Canada has now hit the pause button on funding public transit in the middle of a climate crisis. With this budget, the federal government ignored the joint call from Canada’s three largest transit agencies, public transit rider groups and ENGOs to fund this program in the 2024 budget, and expand it to provide funding for faster, more frequent service.”
Adrian Currie, Ontario Climate Program Manager:
“This federal budget misses the mark by failing to provide enough funding to help Canadians retrofit their homes and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and their energy costs. Capitalizing the Canada Greener Homes Affordability program at a third of the previous program is a missed opportunity by this government to address household climate change emissions while tackling the affordability crisis.”
Phil Pothen, Counsel and Land Use and Land Development Program Manager:
“This budget’s use of public lands for housing, and federal money to remove financial and provincial zoning barriers to density and purpose-built rental housing in existing neighborhoods, is a refreshing contrast to the failed sprawl and mega-highways of Ontario’s provincial government. Shifting housing construction to dense, labour-efficient buildings in existing neighbourhoods is the only credible path to fixing our housing shortage, meeting climate obligations, preserving farmland, and saving species at risk. However these positive steps will be undermined if the upcoming full budget implementation bill doesn’t include an updated Impact Assessment Act to thoroughly review – and prevent – destructive, sprawl-subsidizing projects like Highway 413.”
Additional experts from Environmental Defence available for comment:
- Julie Segal, Senior Program Manager, Climate Finance, is available to comment on sustainable finance and climate-related financial policy.
- Cassie Barker, Senior Program Manager, Toxics is available to comment on chemicals management funding.
- Alienor Rougeot, Program Manager, Climate and Energy, is available to comment on sustainable jobs policy and funding.
ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.
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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca
