Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new details of the federal government’s $3.5 billion plan to protect oceans and strengthen Coast Guard facilities on the world’s longest national coastline.
In its latest budget, the government pledged to add $2 billion over nine years to the $1.5 billion already set aside for ocean protection.
Speaking at a press conference on Bowen Island, British Columbia, Trudeau said the government has already launched an expanded version of the Oceans Protection Plan.
Initiatives already funded by the program include the opening of six Coast Guard stations in British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, the creation of an Indigenous-led Coast Guard Auxiliary in British Columbia, the restoration of coastal aquatic habitats, and the removal and disposal of hundreds of abandoned boats.
It also funds efforts to protect at-risk species, including southern killer whales and North Atlantic right whales.
The new money is aimed at expanding environmental and safety efforts in more regions. Trudeau said the latest plan aims to keep oceans and coasts healthy, accelerate reconciliation and build a clean future.
The initiative showed his government was “going back to space saying our oceans need to be protected,” he said.
“The federal government before us was closing Coast Guard stations, underinvesting, neglecting any partnerships with Indigenous peoples and firing scientists.”
He said his government was doubling down on the oceans plan, which was launched in 2016, and it would be “broadened and deepened”.
Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, said the government will “work in partnership with Indigenous peoples and coastal communities to protect Canada’s seafarers, waterways and coasts now and for generations to come.”
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