More than half of the provinces' ministers have skipped out on a meeting with the federal government and Indigenous leaders to discuss halting land and water loss in Canada. Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault speaks during the Montreal Climate Summit in Montreal on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
OTTAWA – More than half of the provinces’ ministers have skipped out on a meeting with the feds and Indigenous leaders to discuss halting land and water loss in Canada.
Environment ministers from Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories attended the meeting.
The other provinces and territories sent their deputy ministers.
The Liberal government is leading a 2030 biodiversity strategy to protect 30 per cent of land and water by 2030, but it will be a difficult target to reach without the help of provinces and territories.
The federal ministry of environment and climate change says they have a critical role to play because they have significant authority over land use.
At the end of 2022 almost 14 per cent of Canada’s land and freshwater and almost 15 per cent of marine areas and coastline were under some kind of conservation protection.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2023.
