Carney, Poilievre talk national parks, resource project approvals

OTTAWA — The Liberal and Conservative leaders were both in British Columbia April 7, where the Liberals are promising environmental conservation measures and support for seniors, while the Tories are offering more efficient approvals for resource projects.

At the start of the third week of the federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Mark Carney was in Victoria, where he met with B.C. Premier David Eby.

B.C. is a battleground province where the Liberals and Conservatives find themselves in closer competition than in many other parts of the country. Meanwhile, Eby has thrown his support behind NDP incumbents seeking re-election, which includes NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who represents Burnaby South.

At a press conference in Victoria, Carney outlined a number of conservation measures, including creating at least 10 new national parks and marine conservation areas, as well as 15 new urban parks.

He also pledged to invest $100 million into a “strategic water security technology fund” to advance Canadian research and development, artificial intelligence, monitoring and data tools.

The Liberals also said they would temporarily give seniors more flexibility to draw from their retirement savings and, for a period of one year, increase the guaranteed income supplement for low-income seniors.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Terrace, B.C., where he announced a plan to speed up approvals for major resource projects.

Poilievre says each project would have one application and one environmental review. He says he would work with the provinces to create a single office that would co-ordinate project approvals across all levels of government.

Singh, who met with Hudson Bay employees in Toronto, says workers should be compensated for unpaid wages, benefits and severance ahead of creditors when companies like Hudson Bay file for bankruptcy.

Singh is also promising $16 billion over four years to build three million homes by 2030.

The funds would be split evenly between two programs. One would “reward” cities that build more multi-unit homes in all neighbourhoods, build more homes near transit hubs and speed up permitting, while the other would help provinces expand the water and sewage infrastructure needed to support housing.