Federal cuts to climate-related funding are the wrong move, according to these Islanders

Some Islanders are raising concerns that federal budget cuts to climate-related programs could have serious consequences for Prince Edward Island.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first federal budget outlined how dozens of government departments plan to rein in spending — including the Department of Environment and Climate Change — which will end some small-lease agreements, cut external training contracts, and slash activities and programs that aren't within its core mandate. 

Natural Resources Canada is also planning to wind down several programs, including the Canada Greener Homes Grant and the 2 Billion Trees program.

“Overall from a climate perspective, the budget was very disappointing to me,” said Jill MacIntyre, a national climate justice organizer based in Charlottetown. 

She said her disappointment stems from this budget’s heavy investments in natural gas, cutting of the proposed emissions cap, and more investments in fossil fuels and “false climate solutions.” 

MacIntyre also pointed to many climate-related programs that were cut or reduced that had a big impact on the day-to-day lives of Canadians, like the Greener Homes program, which provided loans and grants to help people retrofit their homes and make more energy efficient upgrades, like installing heat pumps.   

“They’re just sunsetting that program even though it’s been quite successful for the entire time it’s been running,” she said. 

Steve Howard, a former Green Party MLA who owns a renewable energy installation and sales company in Summerside, agreed and said he’s disappointed to see how the federal government’s climate priorities seem to have shifted in this budget.

“It’s been quite disappointing to see some things that were quite popular be cut out of the budget, and some things that probably work completely against the climate change agenda added to the major prioritized projects,” said Howard. 

“We seem to be prioritizing large-scale capital projects, very localized projects, rather than some programs that were in place that perhaps more typical Canadians would have taken advantage of across the country.” 

Howard said cuts to programs like the Greener Homes program mean for a lot of Islanders, making more energy efficient upgrades to their homes will be out of reach. He said the cuts will also have an impact on Island companies — including his own — that provide renewable energy installation services.

“If we have Islanders, or Canadians, wanting to make these changes we should be doing everything we can to encourage them to do so.” 

MacIntyre said that encouragement is particularly important for places like P.E.I., which will be among the first to experience and live with the effects of climate change.

“It’s a major responsibility of our political leaders to really be galvanizing support for climate action because it is, you know, for the greater good… we’re on an Island — a low-lying Island — we’re very vulnerable to climate change,” MacIntyre said.