Ex-PMs call for 'green stimulus' in federal budget
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 | 6:09 PM ET
CBC News
Four former prime ministers are calling on the federal government to include a "green stimulus" in Tuesday's budget in an attempt to stimulate Canada's flagging economy.
"Green stimulus creates jobs and will jump-start Canada's role in the new global economy," former prime ministers Kim Campbell, Joe Clark, Paul Martin and John Turner wrote in a Wednesday statement.
"Green stimulus will provide long-term growth in the emerging green economy through low-cost loans and spending which dramatically accelerate production of renewable energy and deploy stimulus into transit, buildings, green grid and other low-carbon infrastructure," the statement said. It did not suggest how much the government should invest.
The statement came a day after a coalition of environmental, labour and forestry groups released a proposal calling for the budget to include an investment of more than $41 billion over five years to "green the economy."
The coalition, under the banner PowerUP Canada, has said it has included ideas from groups like the Pembina Institute and the David Suzuki Foundation in formulating its policies.
"Our hope is that our assessment will be taken seriously by [Finance Minister Jim] Flaherty's office," said Tzeporah Berman, executive director of PowerUP. Flaherty's budget is expected to include billions of dollars of new spending and tax cuts to stimulate the economy.
Plan combines green loans, spending
In its plan, PowerUP calls on the government to issue $18.7 billion in low- or zero-interest loans over five years in order to stimulate investment in renewable energy production, energy efficiency technology and retrofitting homes and commercial buildings.
"If there's incentive to manufacture things like wind turbines and solar panels, that could really support the manufacturing industry in a difficult time," said Ken Delaney, assistant to the national director of the United Steelworkers of Canada.
The plan proposes $22.7 billion in direct spending over five years, with the majority of that money devoted to public transit. It would allocate $7.6 billion to improving existing public transit infrastructure, while $9.8 billion would be committed to expanding transit infrastructure. The rest of the funding would go toward improved energy infrastructure and building retrofits.
"It's a perfect time to step up to make those commitments [to infrastructure]," Delaney said, adding that infrastructure spending has long been neglected in Canada.
The plan says these would be partially funded by green bonds, government-backed financial instruments directed toward investment in renewable energy. Revenues from cap-and trade programs could also help pay for the plan.
When asked why the group proposed to use a cap-and-trade system to help fund the plan, as opposed to a carbon tax as suggested by former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, Berman said: "Because that's what this government has proposed."
"We need to focus on where there's consensus and where we can move quickly," adding that while the carbon tax can be implemented quicker, both systems address the same issue, which is putting a price on carbon.
Harmonizing with Obama could affect tar sands
Newly inaugurated U.S. President Barack Obama has said he would like to invest in green jobs and energy as part of a plan to wean the United States off its dependence on oil from the Middle East and South America. PowerUP says its plan would have the government marching in lockstep with the Obama administration's energy and environmental policies.
Canada's ambassador to the U.S., Michael Wilson, said Monday one of the federal government's biggest challenges with the Obama administration is Canada's reputation as a purveyor of dirty oil.
Environment Minister Jim Prentice, speaking Tuesday in Toronto, said the Canadian government will push for a greater role in the U.S. energy market. He also defended Alberta's oilsands production as "a reality" that is not going away, and said the U.S. will find that oil from that source is important to its future.
"Prentice's focus on ensuring special consideration for oilsands is completely inconsistent with Obama's position," said Berman. "We need to slow down oilsands production and use it to transition towards renewable energy. We're not saying 'shut the oilsands down.'"
Canada is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the U.S., exporting more than one million barrels per day, about half of which comes from the oilsands. Environmental groups have long criticized the oilsands, pointing to the large amounts energy required to extract bitumen from the sands and the waste created by the process.
PowerUP says it represents 850,000 Canadians. It includes groups like the Forest Products Association of Canada and Environmental Defence.
Story comments (90)
at 8:39 PM ETWhy is it that our politicians rob taxes from us to support companies that more than likely will move away once they are situated in profits?
Why can't our government get into Research and Development on behalf of Canadians and make a profit to pay down their own deficits?
In the past, they centainly have encouraged our technology to be developed in other countries as no support for the person creating.
at 8:38 PM ETTo : Ex _ Environmentalist............
Very good posts.
Just maybe your posts will be a fork in the road
and give some of the sheeple an alternative route to consider.
at 8:37 PM ETRobert J wrote:
Posted 2009/01/21
at 8:12 PM ETThe Twain Shall Meet wrote:"Yes lets control that co2 it is warming up the world just look at your
thermometer outside your window"
*************************************************
You seem to have me mixed up with Gerico, whose notion of a single day giving evidence to the lack of Environmental Necessity prompted my direct rebuttal.
Play fair Robert we are on the same side of this issue.
"Global warming evidence, however, does not rely on one day's temperature."
That was My point, as it is Yours..
at 8:21 PM ETcanuck67
Toronto wants windmills, Pan Am games, and a new waterfront yet the the beaches area was flooded with sewage this summer and the electrical grid crashes every two months.
canuck67 really good post.
What boggles my mind about Lake Ontario, Lake Erie as well as a large part of Lake Superior if how any of us can exude any kind of pride in our Great Lakes in Canada. I realise the tarsands are the Hot topic of discussion when it comes to pollution in Canada which in large part is a direct deflection of the sheer destruction of our Great Lakes and relative ecosystems. Even the interior lakes and waterway of Ontario which once were inhabited by thousands if not millions of species of wildlife and fish are now dead because of acid rain and no one seems to give a hoot about that. OR cleaning it up. The only thing you read about on this news thread or anywhere else in Canada is the tarsands. No one mentions the millions of litres or raw sewage being dumped into the Pacific Ocean by the City of Victoria and the destruction it's causing ocean species. We really have to keep that one quiet because the Olympics are coming. So what do all the eco guys and the Sierra Club wacko's all bitch about? The tarsands.
It's all very simple to deflect environmental issue's away from the one's happening in your own backyard.
at 8:12 PM ETThe Twain Shall Meet wrote:"Yes lets control that co2 it is warming up the world just look at your
thermometer outside your window"
******************************************************
Thankyou Gerico for reminding us of the Difficulty of Re-educating the Science Deniers.
If that hypothetical "Window" was in Saskatchewan You would still be preaching the 'reality' of a Flat Earth.
*****************************************************
And if you look outside in Saskatchewan today you will see some very warm temperatures indeed. Global warming evidence, however, does not rely on one day's temperature. Melting Glaciers all over the world, melting arctic ice, species on the move, and acidifying oceans do give a better picture of what our 385ppm CO2 is bringing us.
Post your comment
Note: The CBC does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comments, you acknowledge that CBC has the right to reproduce, broadcast and publicize those comments or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever. Please note that comments are pre-moderated/reviewed and published according to our submission guidelines.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Sign up