For over three years, we've been asking questions about the Green Fund, a fund dedicated to green initiatives and GHG reduction. Simple questions: «How much money has been raised? How much has been spent? And, above all, for what? And we've been waiting three years for answers.
The Green Fund has been in the news in recent weeks, and let's face it, there's plenty to be indignant about in terms of its management. In each of the last three years, the Auditor General has criticized the Green Fund for arbitrary project selection, poor monitoring, unverifiable results and misuse of public funds. Recently, the media added another layer, revealing that the Green Fund financed an 800,000 $ project to install winglets on Air Canada planes, provided 6 M$ to Valéro-Ultramar for the construction of an oil pipeline between Quebec City and Montreal, and was used by the Ministry of Transport to reduce debt in its roadworks. At the same time, the government was cutting funding for the maintenance of the Route verte and reducing the sums invested in the development of urban bicycle networks! Find the error!
Clearly, the Green Fund is missing the mark. Over the past decade, transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions have increased rather than decreased. A change of course is needed.
We are also delighted by the government's recent decision to evaluate the management of the Green Fund and to entrust a new organization with the responsibility of coordinating all government actions relating to energy efficiency and the fight against climate change. It is to be hoped that this change will put an end to the Fund's lack of transparency, and bring back to the forefront planned investments in public transit and, in addition, in active transportation.
We can't wait to manage the Green Fund responsibly and use it as an economic lever to make a serious shift towards sustainable mobility (public and active transportation)!
Suzanne Lareau
President and General Manager
