David Eby and Megan Leslie

With consumers feeling the bite of ever-increasing carbon taxes, and business leaders pushing back on the potential economic costs of B.C.’s climate change policies, David Eby’s NDP government is coming under increasing pressure to take its foot off the CleanBC accelerator. Recently, the Business Council of BC pointed out that the provincial government’s own economic analysis projects the West Coast economy could be $28 billion smaller by 2030 under the CleanBC plan than without it. …In a Globe Forum fireside chat with Eby, Megan Leslie, president of the World Wildlife Fund, noted that B.C. has greater biodiversity than any other province, but also the most species at risk. This gave Eby the opportunity to point to his government’s 30 By 30 plan, which aims to set aside 30 per cent of B.C.’s land and waters for conservation, backed up by about $1 billion in funds from senior government, environmental groups and First Nations to allow for economic opportunities.