Morneau to hand down 2020 budget on March 30th

Since winning last fall’s general election, Canada’s governing Liberals have been touting the battle they plan to wage against climate change.

Indeed, as the CBC’s Aaron Wherry reported last December, the two most prominent words in Gov. Gen. Julie Payette’s Speech from the Throne opening Canada’s 43rd Parliament were “climate” and “change.”

“Canada’s children and grandchildren will judge this generation by its action — or inaction — on the defining challenge of the time: climate change,” Payette read.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who has called the climate change fight “the defining issue of our time,” announced in the House of Commons on Wednesday he will be handing down his 2020 budget on March 30.

His announcement came just hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a $1-billion package to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 virus and two days after the Toronto Stock Exchange suffered its worst one-day in 33 years and world oil prices fell 25 per cent, their biggest drop since 1991.

So how goes that fight against climate change in a budget that is already projecting a deficit of $28.1 billion, Mr. Morneau?

How much money, many Canadians are wondering, is going to be siphoned off from the climate change battle to fight the new kid on the block, COVID-19 and its ill-effects?

We won’t know, of course, until Morneau delivers his budget.

Last week, he told a Toronto audience the government would continue to focus on the need to shift the economy away from fossil fuels.

“There is no path forward forward for Canadian businesses that doesn’t include reducing their carbon foot emissions. Investors just won’t be there,” Morneau said in a speech to the Canadian Club of Canada.

“For the energy sector, we intend on working together on approaches that reduce emissions and create more economic opportunities for the workers and businesses, including the Prairies.”

Morneau also said he must include measures to deal with the effects of COVID-19.

One of those measures, he said, would include an increased contingency cushion so Canada can respond to the virus-related slump that has struck economies around the world.

This is the Liberals’ first budget of their minority mandate, so whatever Morneau comes up with will have to pass muster with the opposition Conservatives or New Democrats, or the government will fall on a vote of no-confidence.

How it plays out remains to be seen, but environment activists are already warning the Liberals not to turn away from climate change.

With files from CBC (Peter Zimonjic, David Cochrane, Aaron Wherry, Mia Rabson), Canadian Press