WELLINGTON COUNTY – The Ontario government’s decision to cancel a program aimed at planting 50 million trees by 2025 won’t impact Wellington County’s Green Legacy program, which inspired the provincial effort, but could still end up affecting the number of trees planted locally.
Media reports last week revealed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry told Forests Ontario on April 12, the day after the Progressive Conservative government delivered its budget this month that the 50 Million Tree Program was being eliminated.
The 50 Million Tree Program grew out of an initiative by Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott and was inspired by Wellington County’s internationally-recognized Green Legacy program.
In June of 2015, working with the County of Wellington, Arnott initiated the idea of an Ontario Green Legacy program, calling on the provincial government to massively expand Ontario’s tree planting efforts beginning in 2017 to celebrate Ontario’s 150th anniversary. Arnott then followed up with a private member’s resolution calling on the provincince to establish an Ontario Green Legacy program, in effect taking the county’s Green Legacy plan province-wide.
The resolution was passed unanimously with support from MPPs from all parties on Oct. 22, 2015. On March of 2017, the Liberal government of the day announced the launch of Ontario’s Green Leaf Challenge.
Forest Ontario’s annual budget for the 50 Million Trees Program was about $4.7 million. The cost to the government was about $1.50 per tree while landowners were paying less than 50 cents per tree.
County officials state the decision to cancel the 50 million tree initiative will not impact that local effort.
“The Green Legacy Program is 100 per cent county funded so the recent decision to cancel the 50 Million Tree Program will not impact our program in any way,” stated County of Wellington communications manager Andrea Ravensdale. “Since inception, over 2.5 million trees have been planted through the Green Legacy program within Wellington County by community partners and we have plans for millions more,” she added.
However, Grand River Conservation Authority communications manager Cameron Linwood said the authority was a delivery agent for the 50 Million Trees Program and, in that role, facilitated the connection between the program and interested landowners.
“We have not yet had a chance to fully assess the impact that the termination of this program will have on the number of trees planted in the watershed, but we expect it will result in a reduction going forward,” Linwood stated in an email to the Advertiser.
Arnott declined to comment for this story citing the non-partisan nature of his current role as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
“Because the Speaker must maintain the confidence of the government MPPs as well as opposition and independent members, the Speaker must absolutely refrain from making partisan public statements on issues which are before the House,” he advised in an email.
