Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on
January 9, 2020 in Ottawa, Canada. Dave Chan / AFP
Canada announced billions of dollars in spending on
infrastructure projects Thursday that will support a transition to
a low-carbon economy during pandemic recovery and create 60,000
jobs over three years.
The government’s nascent Canada Infrastructure Bank will oversee
the spending, which totals Can$10 billion (US$7.5 billion) and is
meant to fund electric buses, renewable power generation and
building retrofits.
It is hoped the projects will also attract private
investment.
“Families and businesses want to locate and build where they
know infrastructure is modern, clean and resilient,” Infrastructure
Minister Catherine McKenna told a news conference.
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“And Canada has an excellent opportunity to be the low-carbon
economy that global investors beat a path to if we keep making
smart choices right now,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government last week said it
would aim to beat its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Under the Paris Agreement, Ottawa committed to slash CO2 emissions
by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
The infrastructure money will also go to connect about 750,000
homes and small businesses to broadband in underserved communities
and to irrigate 700,000 more acres (283,300 hectares) of land to
allow Canadian farmers to produce more food.
AFP