Environmental Policy of The Harper Government - Other Measures

Other Measures

In the 2006 budget, the government introduced a 15.25% tax-credit on monthly passes for transit users. Harper also announced a $300 million grant to the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority which will be used in part for preparations for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The government also secured $200 million of funding for Ottawa's O-Train expansion project after Treasury Board President John Baird reviewed the project to make sure there were no cost overruns. The money was secured after Ottawa's new council voted on the project. However, in November, Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre announced that, despite opposition from most of Ottawa City Council, $35 million of the transit funding was to be diverted for a new Rideau River bridge crossings between the two Ottawa growing suburban communities, Barrhaven and Riverside South. Poilievre had stated that if the city of Ottawa would present a transit plan, a request to the government for new money for public transit projects will be granted. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty stated that no provincial money will be given to the bridge project if no rapid transit corridor is included.

On March 1, 2007, while launching the International Polar Year that a worldwide program that will focus on intense researches on the Arctic regions, including climate change effects, the government announced a $150 million/4 year funding for over 40 projects related to the IPY program.

On March 6, 2007, the government announced over $1.5 billion in funding in Ontario for improving the city of Toronto's transit system including the extension of a subway line to Vaughan. $586 million of the funding went for a new power grid from Ontario to Manitoba that would provide cleaner hydro energy.

As part of the 2007 budget on March 19, 2007, Flaherty announced a rebate of up to $2,000 for people who purchase fuel-efficient vehicles. He also announced a new levy to penalize consumers who purchase vehicles with a high-fuel consumption rate: $1,000 for every litre consumed per 100 kilometres would be imposed (up to a total of $4,000) if the vehicle consumes over 13 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres in the city. However, in the 2008 budget, the clean-car rebate will be scrapped in 2009.

As part of the 2008 budget on February 26, 2008, $500 million was announced for public transit, $250 million for research in developing more fuel-efficient vehicles and $300 million for the development a more advanced nuclear reactor and to improve safety at the Chalk River, Ontario Nuclear facility which shut down during the fall of 2007 after there were safety concerns.

In the 2009 Federal Budget the government introduced billions of dollars in spending on the environment and green initiatives including, $1 billion over five years for clean energy research development and demonstration projects, including capture and storage; A new $1 billion Green Infrastructure Fund to support projects like public transit, sustainable energy and waste management; $1.3 billion over two years to support renovations and energy retrofits that will make Canada’s social housing stock more energy efficient, to be split on a 50/50 cost-shared basis with the provinces, $300 million over two years to go to the ecoENERGY Retrofit program to support an additional 200,000 energy-saving home retrofits; $250 million over two years to maintain federal laboratories; $85 million over two years for key Arctic research stations, and $2 million over two years for a feasibility study for a world-class Arctic research station; $80.5 million over the next two years to manage and assess federal contaminated sites, which will facilitate remediation work totalling an estimated $165 million over the next two years and contribute to an improved environment as well as employment opportunities; $75 million for national parks; and $10 million in 2009-2010 to improve the government’s annual reporting on key environmental indicators such as clean air, clean water and greenhouse gas emissions.