[HN Gopher] The federal government promised to plant two billion...
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       The federal government promised to plant two billion trees. How's
       that going?
        
       Author : voisin
       Score  : 49 points
       Date   : 2024-03-30 17:59 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cbc.ca)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cbc.ca)
        
       | transcriptase wrote:
       | "The problem with the program is not that the goal is not
       | laudable. It is that the program has not really been designed to
       | achieve its goals," he said.
       | 
       | A pattern with the current government.
       | 
       | Even with their main fulfilled promise of legalization of
       | Cannabis, the stated goal throughout the legislative process was
       | to undercut and eventually choke off the black market.
       | 
       | Instead they cherry picked the most onerous regulations from the
       | alcohol and pharma industries and taxed it like tobacco... while
       | basically ending any sort of enforcement against black market
       | operators.
       | 
       | 5 years in the black market is larger and more public facing than
       | ever, while licensed producers all circle the financial drain
       | because they can't possibly compete with illegal growers and
       | retailers who pay no tax and follow no regulations (eg. release
       | testing for pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, mold).
        
         | gottorf wrote:
         | > Instead they cherry picked the most onerous regulations from
         | the alcohol and pharma industries and taxed it like tobacco...
         | while basically ending any sort of enforcement against black
         | market operators.
         | 
         | The worst of both worlds!
        
         | passwordoops wrote:
         | Just listened to a podcast today with a focus on the Ontario
         | budget, but they do discuss how this pattern is the norm for
         | most, if not not all, provincial governments too. (1)
         | 
         | It's like governing is the end goal and not a means for the
         | political class, so we end up with crummy policy across the
         | board.
         | 
         | (1) https://thehub.ca/2024-03-29/this-government-is-oblivious-
         | th...
        
           | beezlebroxxxxxx wrote:
           | The general sense I get from every Canadian politician,
           | regardless of whether they're at the municipal, provincial,
           | or federal, level, and regardless of party, is that they are
           | much better at _getting elected or re-elected_ than they are
           | at actually passing legislation or making their stated
           | platforms a reality. The federal level would be helped with
           | an actual 3rd contender, but the NDP have been floundering
           | since Layton passed. Instead the 2 major parties are just
           | ideological vacuums with no point or goal but to cycle in and
           | out of power.
        
             | multiplegeorges wrote:
             | The NDP have forced the current Liberals to pass two of the
             | most impactful programs in a LONG time: universal dental
             | coverage and now pharmacare.
             | 
             | They may be floundering in the polls, sadly, but their
             | impact has been immense.
        
               | 14 wrote:
               | Sadly the NDP have lost their way and will not be winning
               | an election for a long time. Jagmeet needs to be
               | replaced. Move away from liberal policies and create
               | their own political agenda that defines them.
        
             | avtar wrote:
             | The following article sheds some light on the corporate
             | lobbying that's been taking place within the NDP
             | (provincial and federal) since Layton's era:
             | 
             | https://breachmedia.ca/ndp-lobbyists/
             | 
             | Seems like it's just neoliberalism all the way down,
             | regardless of the party.
        
         | bryanlarsen wrote:
         | The cannabis black market is steadily shrinking in Canada.
         | 
         | https://mjbizdaily.com/canadas-legal-cannabis-market-winning...
        
         | 14 wrote:
         | There are definitely struggles on both sides of the matter.
         | Regulated sellers have the worst expensive low potency weed.
         | Black market producers can no longer sell at a high premium.
         | The government made these rules knowing it would perpetuate the
         | black market. People want to see the weed they are buying yet
         | sanctioned stores have to have all their products in packaging
         | you can not see through. Edibles have to be of such low potency
         | it is laughable. They stores are selling weed that is 9+ months
         | old. So many issues. Black market guy just selling high quality
         | weed he smokes himself so no he doesn't put any crazy
         | pesticides or things like that into it. Has to make one wonder
         | why the government made these rules when they serve no purpose
         | other than making a black market viable. But again the struggle
         | is on both sides gone are the days of $2500 a pound. It's way
         | down.
        
         | fbdab103 wrote:
         | There was a Planet Money story[0] about how legal growers are
         | struggling because there is too much competition from not
         | enough buyers. Maybe black market competition is to blame, but
         | I would love to see some hard numbers on where the majority of
         | purchases are made. My knee jerk reaction is to believe that
         | most people are lazy and will pay for the convenience of a
         | brightly lit store front instead of locating their local
         | dealer.
         | 
         | Choice quote from the article:                 There are just
         | over four million people in Oregon, and so far this year,
         | farmers have grown 8.8 million pounds of weed. Which means
         | there's nearly a pound of dried, smokable weed for every single
         | person in the state of Oregon. As a result, the sales price for
         | legal marijuana in the last couple of years has plummeted.
         | 
         | [0] https://www.npr.org/2023/11/29/1197955821/marijuana-state-
         | fe...
        
       | spurgu wrote:
       | Seems to be going better in India:
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adTsC7RPlUs
        
         | WillAdams wrote:
         | Also in Africa:
         | 
         | https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-gree...
        
       | kgbcia wrote:
       | Wish they could plant some random crops like potatoes and corn to
       | the mix. And a healthy barrier to prevent wildfire from
       | destroying all their work.
        
       | osigurdson wrote:
       | Long ago, I tree planted for a few weeks one summer as a teenager
       | where everyone was was paid by the tree. I worked very hard to
       | planting trees properly using correct techniques to help maximize
       | the probability of their survival. There were a couple of "ultra
       | high performing" teams that we eventually learned were simply
       | burying trees. I thought eventually they would be caught and
       | fired but in the end the management company was also in on the
       | scam - ultimately declaring bankruptcy and no one got paid. It
       | was an interesting lesson for me both in terms of doing truly
       | hard work / living in nature as well as corruption in government
       | contracts.
       | 
       | Given Justin Trudeau's abysmal corruption and competency records,
       | I expect that money will be buried in Katimavik Bitcoin wallets -
       | no need to bury actual trees.
        
         | aurizon wrote:
         | Start 'Bitwood' - it might become a thing...
        
       | ProllyInfamous wrote:
       | I just purchased a very small part of a forest, an inholding
       | within 8000 acres of protected land trust and 40,000+ of national
       | forest surrounding.
       | 
       | Having no clue of the actual number, I suspect I now own
       | thousands of trees. Last week, I owned zero trees.
       | 
       | Thankfully this US state offers multiple forms of conservation
       | easement, which will allow me to keep trees on 99% of the land
       | (building two tiny homes on dozens of acres). Perhaps I might
       | even generate some authentic _carbon offsets_?
        
         | losvedir wrote:
         | That's pretty interesting. Do you have any more info about how
         | you did that or how you found it or how much something like
         | that costs? Was it just a sustainability donation kind of
         | thing, or do you intend to (or can you) live there or visit?
         | 
         | We donate to a Shirley Heinz Land Trust which buys up decrepit
         | lots around where we live in Gary, IN and around there, and
         | restores them into preserves. But it's nothing on the scale of
         | what you bought, it sounds like.
        
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