Budget 2021 under climate pressure with spotlight on Biden Earth Day Summit

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is working hard to rebuild Canada-U.S. relations after the Trump years. The green recovery and fight against climate change are two shared priorities that underpin the budding relationship between President Biden and Trudeau. However, decisive action taken by the president to tackle climate change early in his mandate has put Trudeau under pressure to do more.

It is hard to blame the prime minister for shifting his attention from climate change to the pandemic. After all, even the slightest action on climate change was better than the inaction south of the border. Now, a significant green stimulus package put forward by the United States administration and Biden’s upcoming Earth Day summit has put additional pressure and urgency on the Liberal government to put their money where their mouth is.

It was no accident that the Liberals scheduled their budget three days before the United States’ virtual climate change summit. Trudeau will undoubtedly use today’s spotlight to set the table for later this week. It will be a signal to President Biden that his northern neighbours are reprioritizing action on greenhouse gas emissions, as well as placing a greater emphasis on energy efficiency projects and nature conservation.

The federal Liberals see the green economy as a recovery measure from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Healthy Environment and Healthy Economy strategy unveiled by Minister John Wilkinson in December, laid out generational investments for a green recovery and an economy focused on ‘clean growth.’ Many of the commitments from December’s announcement will be prominently featured in today’s budget. We expect additional details and firmer investments in green jobs, green technology, and incentives for home retrofits and electric vehicles. These environmental planks could also serve as part of any bilateral agreement with the United States.

Trudeau’s green investments not only help his relationship with the Biden administration, they are important election goodies. The Liberals hope to sway younger and left-leaning voters away from the NDP and Green Party in case the minority parliament dissolves – be it accidentally or accidentally on purpose. 

For the past four years, Prime Minister Trudeau was trying to get the Trump administration caught up on the environment. Now that President Biden and Vice President Harris have accelerated the U.S. approach with aggressive targets and investments, Canada will need to step-it-up.