Hon. Percy Mockler: Honourable senators, my question to the Leader of the Government in the Senate is concerning the two billion trees to be planted. In January, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that this program would cost $5.7 billion. Given that Natural Resources Canada, or NRCAN, and the government said very little progress has been made on this program to date, and that you have just had to rework your original plans, is this still projected, as per the government, that it would cost $3.16 billion? Who is right?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. Though I’m not able to respond specifically to the question of the figures, I am happy to report that the government remains committed to reaching its goal — slow start though it indeed had — to plant two billion trees across this country.

The government has finalized the plans and agreements with project partners this summer, putting Canada on track to plant 30 million trees by the end of this year. Those partners will report their final numbers in the spring of 2022. The government is also announcing a second call for proposals this week, which will help to ramp up planting across the country.