What might Canada's Green Recovery look like?
An environmental working group is pitching $55 billion in green stimulus spending
“Green recovery,” for the moment, is just a slogan. It refers to the possible suite of stimulus policies Canada will maybe enact to help our country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic while also tackling an even bigger economic threat: climate change.
It also seems to be the only credible option for leading us out of the post-pandemic slump we find ourselves in.
From the perspective of environmental organizations, businesses concerned about long-term sustainability and ordinary folks who might be freaking out about multiple extreme weather events becoming a normal occurrence, this moment represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redirect Canada towards a better path.
Oh, and it’s going to cost lots and lots of money. How much? $55 billion, maybe. That is, if you’re following the recommendations of the environmental working group known as the “Task Force for a Resilient Recovery.” They put out a final report today (September 16), one week before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gives his throne speech, which is likely to include an “ambitious green agenda.”
A lot depends on the policies this federal government decides to put on the table.
And yet, not everyone is cheering for a “green” recovery, from fossil fuel proponents to columnists suspicious of heavy-handed policy approaches.
This spring, Christopher Ragan and Andrew Potter of the Max Bell School of Public Policy wrote in the Globe and Mail that a climate-oriented stimulus package would be a “terrible idea” because (1) our current recession is self-inflicted, (2) the government is bad at picking winners and (3) simply increasing the price of carbon would be more effective.
Some columnists like Andrew Coyne were fans of this piece (“This is spot on, in every respect”), while his Globe and Mail colleague Adam Radwanski poked at the wisdom of leaning so hard on carbon pricing (“There are also investments in public infrastructure that aren’t going to happen just because of a higher carbon price”).
Michael Bernstein of Clean Prosperity tweeted at the time that “we need both things” [a carbon tax + other climate policies], adding that “if public $ is going to be spent, better to do that in a way that accelerates the transition to a low-carbon future.”
Over the summer, the debate over what a green recovery might look like expanded to include stimulus spending for building retrofits. And if today’s recommendations from the Task Force for a Resilient Recovery are any indicator, $27 billion for retrofits could form a core part of Canada’s post-pandemic recovery effort.
The Task Force also recommended $7 billion to support zero-emission vehicles, which would align Canada with similar incentive efforts in Germany, France and China.
In one week, we’ll know more from the Prime Minister’s throne speech, but the push for climate-oriented spending in Canada will only increase as we focus on efforts to both stabilize the economy and address the climate crisis. The next five years could become a significant turning point for this country and its emissions reduction efforts.
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