Speech

Bonjour,

Good morning.

For nearly 70 years, Transport Robert has been a leader in the transportation sector -- not just here in Quebec, but across the country. When it comes to natural gas technologies, for example, this family-run business is always ready to go the extra mile. Small wonder they've been named one of Canada's 50 Best-Managed Companies.

I'd like to thank you, Monsieur Robert, for welcoming us today.

It gives me great pride to be here at Transport Robert for such an important announcement.

Canada's continued economic recovery remains our Government's top priority. And, earlier this week, with my colleague Jacques Gourde, our Government released three reports indicating that despite economic growth, our GHG emission levels remain the same. This news demonstrates that our work to balance the need for a cleaner and healthier environment while protecting jobs and growth is working.

As you know, Canada is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. Since the transportation sector makes up nearly one-quarter of all emissions, any climate change strategy must take a hard look at what happens on our highways. That's exactly what we're doing today.

Je suis heureux d'annoncer que le gouvernement a proposé un règlement visant à réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre provenant des nouveaux véhicules lourds routiers et de leur moteur. Les nouvelles normes s'appliqueront à la construction de toute la gamme de véhicules, allant des grandes camionnettes, des tracteurs combinés et des autobus aux bétonnières, aux camions à ordures et aux camions à benne. Afin d'être conformes aux normes, les nouveaux véhicules devront être conçus de façon à utiliser des éléments tels que les moteurs écoénergétiques, les cabines de conception aérodynamique et la diminution du ralenti, des technologies aisément accessibles.

I'm pleased to announce the Government has proposed regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new on-road heavy-duty vehicles and engines. The new standards would affect the manufacture of everything from full-size pickups, combination tractors and buses to cement, garbage and dump trucks. To comply, new vehicles would be able to use features like fuel-efficient engines, aerodynamic cabs and idle-reduction -- technologies that are available right off-the-shelf.

Once final, these regulations would kick in for the 2014 model year. Looking ahead, the new standards are expected to reduce emissions from 2018 heavy duty vehicles by up to 23 percent from those sold in 2010. We expect this to translate into total GHG emissions reductions of about 3 megatonnes annually in 2020 -- equivalent to removing about 650,000 personal vehicles from the road.

But these regulations would not just help us take action on climate change -- they would also help the trucking industry become more competitive. When the 2018 high-roof sleepers roll off the line, for example, we can expect to see fuel efficiency improved in these combination tractors by up to 23 percent over earlier models due to the technological advances. This will result in a pay-back period of less than a year for the typical increase in costs resulting from these new regulations. Given the rising price of fuel, the importance of putting in place measures that will improve fuel economy for our trucking industry is self evident.

I want to stress these tough new regulations we're proposing would align with the mandatory standards of the United States. We would effectively create common North American standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the whole range of new on-road heavy-duty vehicles.

Given the deeply integrated nature of our automotive industry, it makes good sense to take a harmonized approach, both nationally and across the continent. Both Canada and the United States recognize the importance of putting in place progressively stringent standards, while also offering flexibility for industry to determine how they will meet the performance based standards within their fleet.

Here at home, the Government benefitted from early advice and input from provincial governments, and stakeholders in industry and the environmental community, and we're open now to more feedback. Once the proposed regulations are published in the Canada Gazette Part I on April 14th, the formal two-month period for comments will begin. Rest assured we will continue to work with our provincial colleagues and all concerned parties, as well as the United States government, to ensure the final regulations benefit the environment, industry and consumers.

Le gouvernement est résolu à réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre provenant des nouveaux véhicules lourds routiers et des moyens de transport en général.

This Government is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from new on-road heavy-duty vehicles, and from transportation sources in general.

Today, we've taken a major step towards that goal.

Merci.

Thank you.

- END -