Canada's NDP

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July 20th, 2022

More Urgent Action Needed to Protect Our Coastal Communities

NDP Critic for Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Lisa Marie Barron made the following statement:

“Marine and coastal areas are essential to community livelihoods and the economy, but they are constantly under threat. Over the years, our coastlines and oceans have been neglected – with more plastic pollution and rising temperatures harming people’s livelihoods and destroying marine life, and it's only getting worse.

Yesterday’s announcement for the next phase of Canada’s Ocean Protection Plan is optimistic, but there’s still much to do to address the threats to ocean biodiversity. In 2016, the Liberals committed $1.5 billion to the Oceans Protection Plan, but have only spent approximately $1.2 billion of that. While it’s important to continue funding these important projects, the money must be delivered more urgently to the communities and organizations doing the work to protect our oceans.

Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have shown people time and time again that they are not taking serious steps to protect our oceans, coastlines and marine life. They’ve built the Trans Mountain Pipeline, they give billions of dollars in public money each year to oil and gas companies who pollute our oceans and they refuse to stop.

Indigenous and coastal communities need the Liberals to do better, but they keep making big promises and then fail to deliver.

New Democrats know that people deserve a government that will take the urgent and necessary action needed to protect our oceans. We will keep pushing for the government to end fossil fuel subsidies and redistribute that money to transition to a clean and greener economy that supports workers.”