A federal parliamentary committee heard several pitches on Monday for what expenses to include in the upcoming federal budget, from better access to mental-health services to meeting national climate-change goals.
“We have a critical window of opportunity to fix Canada’s mental-health system,” she said. “Mental-health support keeps people connected to their communities, saves taxpayer dollars, and reduces the burden on an already heavily strained health-care system.” The coalition also says $10 to $15 billion a year for 10 years is needed to retrofit homes and commercial buildings to reduce their carbon emissions. To meet its climate-change targets, Canada will need to decarbonize 600,000 buildings and more than 30 million square metres of commercial space a year until 2040, said Vanessa Corkal, a policy adviser with the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a member of the coalition.
U.B.I. shouldn't been on this agenda some time ago.