It seems like the Natural Resources minister, who's talking about tree planting and is also a big proponent of these policies, would know that number, because it seems very material to whether or not the government really has a definition of what it's trying to achieve when it's moving towards net-zero emissions.
To your point, you're right that tree planting is an extremely effective way to enhance biodiversity, to sequester carbon and to facilitate better wildlife management and sustainability.
I notice in the estimates that you increased the budget for the “two billion tree-planting by 2031” promise, from $282.5 million in 2023-24 to $338 million in 2024-25. As of June 30, 2023, the two billion trees program has agreements signed to plant only 374 million trees by 2031, which is less than 19% of the stated goal, and as of September 25th, 2023, your department, NRCan, reported that only 56 million trees have been planted, which is less than 3% of the stated goal. Can you tell Canadians how you actually expect to reach that goal in the next seven years if you're only 3% towards the goal three years in and have signed agreements for only a mere 19% of trees?