Trudeau Tracker: Have the Liberals kept their promises to protect our water?
The Liberals told voters they would restore freshwater research and protect more coastline
Oil and water don't mix, including on the campaign trail. The two substances highlighted big differences during the 2015 campaign, pitting the Conservatives' support for the energy sector against the Liberals' commitment to do more to protect the environment.
Canada has the world's longest coastline, one-fifth of its freshwater supply and 7 per cent of its renewable freshwater. So in the last campaign, the Liberals spent a lot of time portraying Stephen Harper's Conservatives as more concerned about exploiting Canada's vast resources of oil and gas than protecting an even more abundant and valuable resource.
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"We will protect our freshwater and oceans," the Liberal platform said.
Justin Trudeau repeated that short commitment during a campaign stop in Burnaby, B.C., last September.
"From coast to coast to coast, that means investing in the protection of our oceans, the health of which is vital to safeguarding our environment and growing our economy."
The Liberal platform promised to:
- Restore funding for freshwater research.
- Protect more of Canada's coastline from commercial activities such as drilling and fishing (5 per cent by 2017 and 10 per cent by 2020).
- Reinstate federal support for the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario, where scientists measure the impact of pollution and climate change on the ecosystem.
So what's happened since then? Was this a whopper of a fish story from the campaign trail or have the Liberals advanced their bona fides as a government that will give the environment equal footing with the economy?
The test was met, at least in part, with the government's first budget.
"Our concern for the environment isn't limited to fighting climate change," Finance Minister Bill Morneau said. "Our government is investing to expand protected areas, develop new parks and fund ocean and freshwater research."
Since then, Fisheries and Oceans says it has begun hiring 135 scientists, including biologists, researchers and oceanographers.
But the government waited until June 8, which not coincidentally happened to be the UN's World Oceans Day, to make its next major announcement.
Praise with a warning
Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, a week into the job after the sudden resignation of Hunter Tootoo to deal with addiction issues, announced a plan to expand the number of marine protected areas — something Canada agreed to do as part of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
That announcement garnered praise from many environmental groups, but also a warning that Canada still has a long way to go.
A report released this month by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and other environmental groups says Canada has protected just 0.11% of its ocean real estate, less than both of its North American partners.
Few protected areas
The report also says that, of Canada's relatively few protected areas, even less territory is fully protected from commercial activity. It says Canada needs to move quickly on areas that have already been identified for protection.
One of the report's authors, Sabine Jessen of CPAWS, says LeBlanc's announcement is a start towards meeting Canada's commitment to increase the amount of marine protected areas to 5% by next year.
"Obviously getting to 5% from less than 1% in a year and a half or so is probably one of the more challenging commitments they've made, but I think they can get there."
The timetable is tight, especially when LeBlanc says the total area to be protected is roughly equivalent to the size of the Atlantic provinces. But that's the target Canada agreed to, and the one the Liberals must hit to meet the campaign commitment to recognize water as one of this country's most precious natural resources.
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