PM highlights money for parks, conservation as U.S. changes course on climate
OTTAWA — As U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to sign an executive order aimed at reviving the coal industry and rolling back efforts to curtail global warming, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went for a hike.
Tuesday’s photo opportunity at Thousand Islands National Park in Gananoque, Ont., was meant to highlight government money for parks, conservation areas and the completion of the Trans Canada Trail outlined in the federal budget.
That includes $364 million over two years, starting in fiscal 2018-19, to support how Parks Canada manages national parks, marine conservation areas and historic sites. The government will also put $30 million over five years, starting in 2017-18, to stretch the trail to nearly 24,000 kilometres.
It would be no great surprise, however, if images of Trudeau — trudging on snow-dusted leaves or listening attentively as a guide points out wetlands on a map — ends up in one of those “Meanwhile in Canada…” Internet memes that now seem to be as often about Trump as they are about shovelling the driveway.