Speech

It’s great to be here today at the Oakville Chamber of Commerce.

I am always grateful when I’m actually invited to speak... uninterrupted.

As some of you may know, I began my career as a journalist and spent a few decades listening to what other people had to say about various things.

As Canada’s Environment Minister, not all that much has changed: I still spend a great amount time listening to the opinions of others and to their suggestions about what I should do... many of which are physically impossible.

All of that said, between your invitation to lunch and the most recent headlines about the environmental impact of oil sands development, I’m having an excellent week.

The debate in the media this week on the oil sand versus coal was useful in highlighting the fact that the use of coal to generate electricity is environmentally harmful. Not only is it one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world today and into the future, it is also a source of serous air pollution. This is why the federal government is pushing so hard to introduce regulations that would see the phase-out of traditional coal-fired power plants across Canada begin in 2015.

As a starting point, it’s crucial to understand the essence of our department’s mandate. Environment Canada’s principal focus is the development, implementation and enforcement of national, science-based environmental regulations and standards.

The Government of Canada intends to achieve this country’s full potential as a Clean Energy Superpower. That means we must first ensure we have the appropriate framework to support it.

Environmental regulations and standards based on clear policies and transparent practices are the only foundation for that structure.

Of course, when it comes to the environment, people always want to move faster--or at least they think they do. But this Government is acutely aware of the need to balance environmental vigilance with economic realities.

We need to ensure that our natural resources are developed in a way that minimizes environmental impact while maximizing economic growth, competitiveness and the creation of good, long-term jobs for Canadians.

Not just Canadians who live in Alberta, either. These are issues that affect our collective prosperity.

Ontario has rich reserves of energy as well--human energy--and we need o deploy all of that... and the spirit of ingenuity and innovation it has fostered here.

Of course, the solutions that properly reflect that balance also tend to take longer--in part because they incorporate a great deal of stakeholder consultation and analysis. But due process can be brisk as well as rigorous.

And since you insist... let me elaborate.

In the year since I became Environment Minister, we’ve reviewed and renewed our approach as a government department: we are still environmental regulators, but we better understand what we need to do to enhance our efficiency--and yours.

At Environment Canada, we frequently talk about our role as a “world-class regulator”. Well, an important characteristic of any world-class regulator is to optimize its effectiveness through efficiency.

So, while our commitment to protecting Canada’s natural heritage is absolutely firm and unwavering, we’ve stepped-up our effort to ensure that--as I mentioned earlier--environmental and economic agendas are adequately synchronized.

What does that mean?

First and foremost, it means that we have looked--and will continue to look--at the ways we can ensure the integrity of our many standards and criteria while making the processes around them more streamlined and more transparent.

In particular, we recognize the importance of avoiding yet another regulatory patchwork, one that puts undue burden on industry and governments alike.

That can be a tall order in a country that divides federal and provincial jurisdictions to such an extent--especially when it comes to the environment. But we’ve now signed Agreements in Principle on climate change with three provinces agreeing to co-operate and co-ordinate efforts on key policy instruments.

Those agreements are important steps forward.

The new Single Window Reporting system also makes it simpler for industry to report and submit their greenhouse gas emissions data to Environment Canada and provincial partner programs where they exist.

At a time of great economic turbulence, the Government of Canada is determined to do what we can to create a greater degree of certainty for business... to establish realistic timelines... to cultivate the conditions that encourage responsible, sustainable investment--and all the jobs that are created by that investment.

In practical terms, that requires eliminating duplication, reducing those murky areas of overlap and obfuscation. It’s the equivalent of installing bright lights along a rocky path to make progress safer and swifter.

On the domestic front, for example, Environment Canada is looking at all the options for modernizing the system of environmental assessment for project reviews. With the Northern Gateway pipeline hearings having been launched in Kitimat and to be held in various other communities across British Columbia, a review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act is obviously timely.

That same scrutiny, that same focus on practical possibility has also framed Canada’s environmental engagement on the international front.

Let me give you an example.

Just last week I was in Washington to sign an agreement with the United States, Mexico and a consortium of three other countries to take action on short-lived climate forcers... these are things like soot, methane gas and other pollutants that have a significant, negative effect on climate but are relatively easy to address.

As a group, we agreed that while large, multilateral undertakings--like the United Nations annual climate change summits--have their place, sometimes it’s just more sensible to get a small, motivated group together and get things rolling now.

That’s why Canada is fully-engaged in the Major Economies Forum, a group of 15 developed nations that convenes regularly to discuss climate change and related environmental issues.

Where it makes sense, we’ve also had excellent--and relatively speedy--results with a number of bilateral initiatives with our American neighbors.

We aligned our greenhouse gas emission targets in 2009, collaborated closely to introduce more stringent tailpipe standards for the transportation sector and established the Clean Energy Dialogue to share scientific information and innovation.

One docket that’s of particular interest to all of you in this room is, of course, water... specifically the water in Lake Ontario.

As you know, we’ve successfully co-operated with the United States since 1972 under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. It was instrumental in reversing the algae issue, reducing the presence and levels of toxic substances in the Lakes, cleaning-up contamination and spurring shared scientific programs.

We’re currently in the process of updating and streamlining that Agreement and renewing the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund.

While we will engage wherever we can see an opportunity to achieve practical environmental benefits, we have the discipline to strategically dis-engage as well.

Coming out of the United Nations climate change conference in Durban this past December, my early Christmas present to myself--and to Canada--was to exercise our legal right to put the Kyoto Protocol out of its misery.

For all the headlines and righteous indignation that it generated, I have to say it really wasn’t a tough decision--especially when framed by those parameters of efficiency and effectiveness I’ve outlined.

The fact the Government of Canada avoided $14 billion in penalties in the process also didn’t hurt. And it’s money that could be better spent on a number of important environmental initiatives.

Our national position is consistent and clear: we support the establishment of a single, new international climate change agreement that includes greenhouse gas reduction commitments from all major emitters.

It was abundantly clear that the Kyoto Protocol could not--and would not--accomplish that because it covered less than 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Not only that, but we had a solid alternative plan in the Cancun Agreements we struck at the United Nations meeting at the end of 2010. The outcome at Durban built on that foundation and demonstrated that there was a way forward that met Canada’s straightforward criteria.

That emphasis on the practical is also reflected in our domestic climate change plan. And yes, we have one.

We are pursuing a sector-by-sector strategy that will see us meet our target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent over 2005 levels by 2020--a target we share with the United States.

To move us toward that goal in an orderly and efficient way--as I mentioned--we started with the transportation sector, the largest-single-source of greenhouse gas emissions.

The next sector we addressed is coal-fired electricity generation, which I’ve also mentioned.

But even before we’ve closed the coal docket, we’ve already started to develop regulated performance standards in other major-emitting industrial sectors, starting with oil and gas.

We’re looking at how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy-intensive operations like oil sands extraction, oil sands and heavy oil upgrading, refining, natural gas and conventional crude extraction and processing, and everyone’s favorite topic these days, pipelines.

As for the oil sands, Environment Canada continues to work closely with both Alberta and the oil sands producers.

We are in the process of rolling out a new industry-financed program to collect and monitor the data required to shape the standards that will ensure this resource is developed in a sustainable, responsible way.

Of the great many things I’ve learned in my first year as Environment Minister, is that our natural, economic and political environment is constantly and rapidly changing, and we’re perpetually adapting and adjusting to keep pace.

The improvements to our efficiency, the reinforcement of our focus and our goals are all important measures when it comes to conserving our environmental legacy and our national prosperity for generations to come.

But the most important element of our success is our willingness and our ability to work together with all of you.

As members of this Chamber of Commerce, we consider you our partners. And as partners, I thank you for the opportunity to provide this update... and for listening.

I assure you that my years of listening are far from over. And I’d be happy to answer some of your questions.

Thank you