If Canada's finance minister suddenly went granola, what would he put in a truly green budget? A coalition of environmental groups has a few suggestions. Are these ideas organic pie in the sky, or exactly what the environment - and the economy - needs?

The Green Budget Coalition is made up of 16 Canadian organizations, including Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, the Canadian Nature Federation, Ducks Unlimited and the World Wildlife Fund.

The group would like to see billions spent on toxic waste clean-up, sustainable transportation, habitat protection and energy efficiency. That would be good for the environment, obviously, but the coalition says it'd be good for the economy too.

As an internet magazine dedicated to solutions that protect the environment and create jobs, the Sustainable Times would like to encourage debate on the ideas raised by the Green Budget folks. Below are excerpts from their budget, and we encourage our readers to check out the full document at the Green Budget website.

Then let other readers know what you think. Do you agree with the Green Budget authors? Are they green enough? Will their ideas help the economy, or just increase the national debt? What is the role of the government in protecting the environment? Of business? Of citizens?

Click on Comments and Updates to have your say.

The Green Budget

Federal and provincial budgets are the single most important environmental policy statements made by governments on an annual basis. A budget is a public statement of priorities, reflecting what the government views as our most important and pressing issues.

Yet despite polls that consistently show high levels of public support for improving environmental protection, government cuts to environmental programs and a failure to make meaningful progress in key policy areas have severely dented Canada's ability to capitalize on opportunities to benefit the environment, public health and the economy.

Canadians identify strongly with their natural environment. Environment Canada notes that 85 percent of Canadians participate in nature-related activities, resulting in overall expenditures of $11.7 billion. This activity generated $5.4 billion in tax revenue to federal, provincial and municipal levels of government combined.

Canadians have also shown increased concern for the state of their environment, and as the federal government heads toward its next budget, support for environmental protection measures is stronger than it has been in a decade.

At the same time, we are becoming more aware of the benefits that flow from environmental protection. Environmental industries in sectors such as pollution prevention and renewable energy have tremendous job creation potential, while protecting the health of Canadians and ensuring that we meet our international environmental obligations.

A shift toward these cleaner emerging sectors, and away from activities that compromise environmental integrity requires clear budgetary signals from a government that is committed to taking Canada into the 21st century as an environmental leader.

This was recently illustrated by the Global Competitiveness Report, published by the Swiss-based World Economic Forum. In the latest report, Canada's competitiveness ranking fell from 5th to 7th. A major factor in Canada's downgrading was our poor environmental performance, especially our lack of effective energy efficiency policies.

The Green Budget Coalition therefore calls for:

1. A multi-year strategic reinvestment in protecting Canada's environment, and
2. A multi-year strategy for budget reform to remove environmentally perverse subsidies, and make selective use of economic instruments and revenue-neutral eco-taxes to protect the environment.

• Canada make the investments required to facilitate the changes in energy use and production that are required to protect human health, meet our international obligations on climate change, and become a world leader in emerging environmental industries.
• The federal government fulfill its promises to protect our national parks and work toward completing the parks system.
• Contaminated sites would no longer compromise the health of nearby communities.

And we can protect the environment and create jobs by aligning employment and education objectives with environmental protection concerns. As demonstrated by recent studies from the U.S. Department of Labour, the OECD and many independent think tanks, environmental protection policies enhance - rather than diminish ‚ employment opportunities.

Read the full Green Budget for specific information on recommendations in three key areas:

1. Healthy Communities
   
   • Clean Canada Fund
     
   • Pollution Tax
     
   • Ecological Agriculture Fund

2. Protection and Conservation of our Natural Heritage
   
   • National Parks for Future Generations
     
   • Biodiversity Knowledge and Innovation Network
     
   • North American Bird Conservation Initiative

3. Clean Air and Climate Change
   
   • National Building Energy Retrofit Strategy
     
   • Sustainable Transportation Strategy
     
   • Low-Impact Renewable Energy Strategy
     
   • Industrial Market Signals Strategy

Excerpted from the Green Budget Coalition's website, November 2001.