The Liberal government is dropping its goal to plant two billion trees by 2031 as part of Tuesday’s budget, according to sources familiar with the matter. The government currently has contracts that they intend to fulfil to plant one billion trees, one source said. The news was first reported by the Globe and Mail. Prime Minister Mark Carney said last month that the budget will include a “climate competitiveness strategy.” But this is another key Trudeau-era climate policy that Carney has dropped since becoming leader, after ending the consumer carbon tax and pushing back the electric-vehicle sales mandate. …The government has struggled to keep up with the commitment, missing its annual planting targets in the past two years. Over 228 million trees have been planted so far, according to Natural Resources Canada’s latest update — leaving more than 1.7 billion in order to reach the target by 2030-31.

Additional coverage from the Canadian Tree Nursery Association: Federal Tree Planting Deserves Major Project Status Not Cuts