Speech

Check against delivery

I’m delighted to be here today: thank you for the invitation to speak with you.

As a federal Cabinet Minister, I am no stranger to the art of delivering earnest insights into the blindingly obvious. So, I’ll dispense with the dramatic recitation of why water is so very important to the life of the planet and to all life forms that inhabit it. Even those of us without the benefit of your collective knowledge and expertise know that humans can go a month without food but just days without water.

Water is an issue of particular resonance in Canada: our country has more surface lakes than any country in the world, and nine per cent of our land mass is covered with fresh water. The Great Lakes Basin is 750,000 square kilometres in size and the lakes in that Basin provide drinking water to 8.5 million Canadians.

More specifically, however, a National Water Conference with a focus on innovation and the options for “Responding to the Opportunities” related to water is very much in synch (pun intended) with the Harper government’s agenda.

Because we take the issue of water so seriously, we’re trying to ensure that we are among the leaders when it comes to monitoring water quality. To that end, in 2006 Environment Canada launched the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (also known as CABIN), a program that asses the health of freshwater ecosystems by looking at the quality and quantity of the organisms that live in the water.

This deviates from the more traditional “end of pipe” approach to water quality monitoring. By focusing on the condition of the key organisms that live in water, our scientists get a more accurate sense of the overall quality of the water. They are able to measure both the site‑specific and cumulative effects of environmental stressors like contaminants and climate changes.

This approach reflects the need to preserve and protect Canada’s exceptional water resources. But with privilege comes responsibility, which is why water lies at the heart of our efforts on every other environmental file—from climate change to biodiversity to chemicals management.

When it comes to tackling the many environmental challenges posed by the development of Canada’s oil sands, for example, the initial focus is on water.

Late last year, Environment Canada accepted the recommendations made by an independent scientific advisory panel to review the monitoring around the Athabasca River and connecting waterways. In a few weeks, we’ll be releasing the promised, peer-reviewed plan for surface water quality monitoring to follow through on those recommendations. And although we’ve deliberately limited the initial scope of this response, it’s an important first step toward making sure we have a world class system.

Once that is done, we’ll develop monitoring plans for water quantity, air quality and biodiversity. Let me hasten to ad that we remain determined to address the GHG emissions from oil sands production, an increasingly urgent issue as production ramps up.

Both CABIN and our oil sands water monitoring  are based on the belief that, while it’s important for individuals to understand the role that they—and their consumer decisions—have when it comes to the stewardship of water, strong leadership is the key to success. So let me tell you a bit more about what we—and our strategic partners—are working on.

In terms of the big picture, the Harper Government’s comprehensive approach to water includes significant investments in monitoring science, the clean-up of problem areas and building partnerships to protect our fresh water.

We’ve done much more than just talk the talk: This Government has spent over $140 million on water-related programs and science in the past year alone.

Under the Action Plan for Clean Water, we are investing almost $100 million to restore Lake Winnipeg, Lake Simcoe and several areas of concern in the Great Lakes such as Hamilton Harbour, the Niagara River, St Claire River, and the Detroit River.

Our Chemicals Management Plan, which we’ve worked on over the past four years, is an integral part of this plan: It has made Canada a world‑leader in regulating harmful chemicals from industrial and household use and their disposal.

Our national waterways are directly protected by these rules. For example, by establishing a national standard that limits the amount of phosphorous added to household detergents and cleaning products, we’ve taken action and made a difference.

Environment Canada is also the key federal Department responsible for monitoring and reporting on Canada’s water quality. Working in co-operation with other federal, provincial and territorial governments, we monitor watersheds at 400 sites across Canada.

Around the oil sands, we’ve increased short-term water monitoring in the area four-fold to almost 100 sites and we’ve invested $1.6 million in a new program that helps us determine if oil sands tailings are leeching into groundwater.

The Government of Canada is working together with Alberta to address concerns about water quality and quantity related to the oil sands. But that’s not where it stops.  Not by any means.

Working with provinces, municipalities and other levels of government across Canada, we are developing new wastewater effluent regulations to deal with the untreated and under-treated discharges that remain in Canada.

The federal regulations, which are targeted for later this year, would create the first‑ever national standard for Canada’s more than 4,000 wastewater facilities. That means standards for secondary treatment or equivalent for the remaining untreated and under-treated discharges, risk-based implementation timelines and, of course, monitoring and reporting requirements.

To help fund the municipal actions necessary to clean up the treatment and disposal of wastewater, the Harper Government has created a permanent Gas Tax Fund—and doubled it to $2 billion a year—to make sure that municipalities can count on the money to address wastewater related and other infrastructure issues.

One of our top priorities in this area is to implement a comprehensive plan to provide better water and wastewater services to First Nations, supported by the $330-million First Nations Water and Wastewater Action Plan.

It’s not all just about us either. Fully recognizing that water is a global issue—something that’s well reflected in the programme and attendance here today—, we’ve engaged internationally on water as well, committing to invest $2.5 million over five years to support the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Environment Monitoring Systems (or GEMS), an international water science program aimed at understanding inland water quality issues around the world.

In closing, I’d like to commend you for gathering, sharing knowledge and advancing the issue of water. It’s a priority for the Government of Canada. And we’re committed to making it a priority for individual Canadian households as well.

Every drop counts. Thank you!