In advance of today’s budget, Greenpeace Canada joined with other Canadian organizations to advocate for measures that would simultaneously address affordability and the climate crisis, and to denounce efforts by some politicians to shamelessly exploit Canadians’ very real economic pain for political gain. Our spokespeople had the following reactions to the 2024 federal budget released today by Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland.
On the overall budget, Greenpeace Canada climate campaigner Salomé Sané said:
“With cost-of-living and extreme weather events both on the rise, investing in climate action is critical for long-term affordability. While we welcome the new green retrofit program as an important step in this direction, the government has missed an opportunity to tax the excess profits of the fossil fuel industry, with the resulting higher energy costs raising prices for the rest of us.”
On climate-aligned financial regulation, Greenpeace Canada senior energy strategist Keith Stewart said:
“We are disappointed not to see the bold leadership we need to rein in Canadian banks’ outsized funding of fossil fuels, as financial regulation continues to be the missing piece in Canada’s climate plan. In February, Greenpeace activists staged a sit-in at Minister Freeland’s constituency calling for climate-aligned finance legislation to be included in the budget, but measures to shift money away from fossil fuels to clean energy are still missing-in-action.”
The Globe and Mail reported this morning that the Finance Department considered implementing a surtax on oil and gas producers, which are posting record returns, but backed down in the face of strong opposition from oil patch executives and the Calgary-based Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
On the failure to ensure that polluters pay their fair share by extending the windfall profits tax to the oil and gas sector, Greenpeace Canada climate campaigner Salomé Sané said:
“The record wildfires of this past summer in Canada gave us a grim experience of the devastation that so many others in the world are already facing. All this while the fossil fuel industry is cashing in record profits at everyone’s expense. It’s time for the Canadian government to stop enabling the fossil fuel industry to get even richer and make it pay for the climate destruction they have caused by contributing to the United Nations Loss & Damage Fund, and invest in viable climate solutions that will make lives safer and more affordable.”
On the $903.5 million Canada Green Buildings Strategy that includes retrofits via the Greener Home Affordability Program, Greenpeace Canada senior energy strategist Keith Stewart said:
“The Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program is just one example of how we can address affordability and the climate crisis at the same time. This program will cut both energy bills and harmful pollution by ensuring homeowners and renters at all income levels can better insulate homes and swap expensive and polluting fossil fuel-fired furnaces for low-cost, low-pollution heat pumps.”
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Keith Stewart, Senior Energy Strategist, Greenpeace Canada
[email protected] ; +1 416 659-0294
