Milestones and ambitions for a united world
Every success and milestone our country celebrates, we are able to celebrate because
of [the Canadian people].
It is your hard work, your ambition, and all your acts of perseverance and kindness that change lives and our country for the better.
LOOKING AHEAD
Thanks to you, we are heading into the New Year with the lowest unemployment rate in over 40 years. Wages are up and, today, 800,000 more people are working than in 2015.
Together, we negotiated a new NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] – and got a good deal for Canada – so that Canadians can count on well-paying jobs, and our businesses can count on the access they need to expand and thrive.
We hosted the G7 and, while there, got leaders of the world to commit $3.8 billion to supporting women and girls’ education in crisis and conflict situations – the largest investment of its kind ever made. We also launched the Ocean Plastics Charter, a historic initiative to eradicate plastic pollution and protect our oceans.
At home, we have a lot to celebrate: from the introduction of Canada’s first national accessibility law, to the single largest investment in discovery science in Canadian history, to the biggest private- sector investment project our country has ever seen.
Together, we will keep the momentum going. We will continue to open the door to new markets, build on progress towards real, meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and create more jobs while protecting the environment.
Starting [in January 2019], small businesses in Canada will benefit from a combined federal-provincial-territorial average income tax rate of 12.2% – the lowest in the G7. It will also no longer be free to pollute anywhere in Canada, as we put a price on pollution to cut emissions and fight climate change.…
Action for our oceans
From the air we breathe and the food we eat, to the land we call home – oceans are essential to sustaining life on our planet.
We know first-hand the benefits of healthy waters, and the consequences of what happens when we neglect them. Illegal fishing, pollution and climate change harm the oceans we need to survive.
On World Oceans Day, we are all called on to do more to protect our oceans and coastal communities. If we fail to act now, we risk losing more than we can measure in a science lab or an environmental report. Climate change is real, and people here in Canada and around the world are already facing its devastating effects.
Our coastal communities are the first to feel the impacts of increasing global temperatures – from floods and hurricanes, to rising sea levels and melting sea ice, to depleted fish stocks and the loss of jobs. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report last fall and the more recent report on Canada’s Changing Climate force us to face a stark reality: without immediate action, we will not be able to protect the plants, animals and habitats that we all depend on from the effects of climate change.
The government of Canada is taking action to preserve and restore our marine ecosystems. Through the historic Oceans Protection Plan, we have made progress on keeping our waters safe and our coasts clean. We have already protected 8% of marine and coastal areas nationwide, up from less than 1% in 2015. We are on track to protect 10% of these areas by 2020. Last year, we announced additional funding to protect the habitats and food sources of endangered whale populations facing extinction. The funding will also address other threats to whales’ survival, including from noise disturbance and pollution.
From launching the Ocean Plastics Charter during our 2018 G7 presidency – now supported by 21 governments and more than 60 businesses and organisations – to co-hosting the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference with Kenya and Japan last November, Canada is taking a lead role internationally. At the conference, we committed to strengthening science and research initiatives, promoting collaboration in sustainable partnerships and projects, and supporting global action that puts people and the environment at the heart of international development. We are also investing $100 million to help prevent plastic waste from entering the oceans, address plastic waste on shorelines, and better manage existing plastic resources in developing countries.
We all share the responsibility to keep our oceans, coasts and seas healthy.
It is the little things we can all do – like using fewer plastic bags and bottles, choosing more reusable packaging and buying sustainable seafood – that can make a world of difference for our oceans. Today and every day, let’s do our part to protect them for future generations.
These texts have been extracted from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement to mark the New Year on 31 December 2018 and his statement on World Oceans Day on 8 June 2019.
