Ottawa (AFP)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a plan to help the energy sector on Friday, hit hard by both the coronavirus crisis and the collapse in oil prices.
Ottawa to release 1.7 billion Canadian dollars (1.1 billion euros) to help clean up inactive or abandoned oil or gas wells in the three western oil provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Colombia -British).
"These wells, which are no longer used, can be harmful not only for our environment, but for human health," said Trudeau in his daily press briefing.
The government will also create a $ 750 million fund to help businesses reduce their gas emissions, including methane.
The objective of these measures is "to create immediate jobs in these provinces while helping companies to avoid bankruptcy and by supporting our environmental objectives", explained the Prime Minister.
"It is not because we are going through a health crisis that we should neglect the environmental crisis," he noted.
According to him, these measures should help maintain about 10,000 jobs, more than half of them in the petroleum province of Alberta.
Greenpeace welcomed this announcement.
"These measures will create jobs at a crucial time, while cleaning up part of the environmental waste abandoned by the oil companies," wrote the environmental association in a press release.
Canada is the world's fourth largest producer of oil, which accounts for 8% of its GDP. The country has the third proven oil reserves in the world, located mainly in the oil sands of the west of the country.
Some $ 960 million will also go to regional development agencies to help small businesses, and another $ 500 million will support the arts, culture and sports sectors, added Trudeau.
© 2020 AFP