Speech

I'm delighted to be here today.

Politicians are always keen about the prospect of a semi-captive audience. And as a former broadcaster, I especially cherish any audience that isn't armed with a channel changer--or a mute button.

That said, today is an important opportunity to reinforce--once again--the crucial relationship between energy and the environment. And I particularly appreciate this invitation from the Ontario Energy Association in that context.

There was a time--not all that long ago--when energy and environment were viewed as two solitudes, distinct issues with minimal overlap. However, it's now become pretty much impossible to contemplate one without the other.

Given the commitment Canada has made to address climate change... to reduce greenhouse gas emissions... to take its place as a clean energy superpower... that convergence will continue.

But there's something else driving it as well: sustainable economic growth and future job creation--in Ontario and as much as in Alberta--require the tight alignment of energy and environmental goals and standards.

The most recent example of this reality is our Government's decision to allow the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project in Labrador to continue to move forward to the next steps.

It will provide clean, renewable energy, displacing the significant use of coal, oil and natural gas to generate electricity, substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

But at the same time, it will provide significant economic benefits. Specifically it will create 16,000 person years of employment and $2.1 billion in income to individuals and businesses.

The Lower Churchill project is something that will benefit Canada's economy directly and indirectly every bit as much as will the development and transport of the oil from northern Alberta's oil sands.

These energy megaprojects are controversial. So too are some of the larger-scale alternative energy initiatives that are under development and review.

But whether we're talking about traditional or less traditional energy sources, understand one thing: they will all be held to the highest environmental standards. And as a world class regulator, it's Environment Canada's job to do whatever is necessary to ensure that is so.

It's a job that I and all the scientists, technicians and officials in our Department take very seriously.

We firmly believe there is no substitution for proactive, stringent environmental regulation and enforcement. And that's at the heart of Environment Canada's mandate.

If federal departments have “brand”, Environment Canada is probably best known for its national weather forecasting service.

The weather, of course, is just one our many files which include safeguarding air and water quality, protecting wildlife species and conducting environmental assessments. All of that work shares the common denominators of scientific measurement, monitoring, analysis and the enforcement of stringent rules and standards.

Glamorous as it sounds, it's a technical, process-driven mandate. And it's a considerable challenge to manage increasingly complex files at a time when change is constant and timelines are compressed.

I’m the first to admit that when you think of environmental regulation, “innovation” is probably not the first term that comes to mind. But we are out to change all of that.

At Environment Canada, we are convinced that our status as a world-class regulator requires us to innovate at all levels of our operations, all the time.

It’s the only way for us to stay at the top of our game... to be effective and efficient... rigorous and responsive.

There are broader, practical considerations as well--especially given the impact that environmental rules and standards have on the economy. We have to uphold those high standards at the same time as we ensure Canadian businesses hold their own in an intensely competitive global marketplace.

That's the delicate balance that lies at the heart of current public policy.          

The role of government is not to pick winners and losers, but rather to minimize the barriers and impediments to growth... to ensure the health and safety of our citizens and our shared environment.   

The government's mission is to establish priorities--economic, environmental and otherwise--that reflect those of all Canadians.

After extensive consultation, the Finance Minister will be identifying these priorities when he tables the federal Budget in just a few days. 

But there is one priority that will be a surprise to no one: our government’s commitment to economic growth and job creation.

Since we introduced the Economic Action Plan to respond to the global recession, Canada has recovered more than all of the output and all of the jobs lost during the recession.

Our balanced approach will boost our efforts to achieve a sustainable and prosperous recovery, and preserve our Canadian economic advantage now and in the future.

Through our Economic Action Plan, we continue to fuel Canada’s job creation engine by replacing ineffective and outdated obstacles to growth, cutting red tape, paying down debt and promoting free trade and innovation.

Contrary to the views of critics, my job as Environment Minister is not to impede any of that. My job is simply to ensure that Canada’s industrial operations are subject to robust environmental scrutiny. 

That's why environmental assessments are required at all levels of government on projects big or small. Every jurisdiction understandably wants to do its part to protect the environment.

As a result, that assessment process can get slow and bulky pretty fast. But it's always important to remember that when you’re talking about environmental rules--less can be more. And quantity should never be confused with quality.

The Government of Canada is determined to do what it can to create a greater degree of certainty for business... to establish realistic timelines... to cultivate the conditions that encourage investment--and all the jobs that are created by that investment.

But all that can only happen if it's framed by a modern, predictable regulatory system. A system that is streamlined and transparent, a system that is effective and efficient.

How do we accomplish that?

Well, at Environment Canada, it's about organizational culture. It’s a pervasive mindset... a relentless focus on excellence... an aggregation of continuous improvements... a determination and discipline to re-think and re-tool entrenched practices and procedures.

Let me explain.

In case you somehow missed this point: we at Environment Canada take our role as a “world-class regulator” very, very seriously.

It’s a challenging mandate because circumstances... domestic, continental and global circumstances... evolve constantly and rapidly. That means we have to strictly preserve the integrity of our environmental standards, while ensuring they remain relevant in every new context.

To that end, we consult extensively with a wide range of stakeholders…provinces and territories... municipalities... environmentalists... aboriginal groups... corporations... community groups... It’s impossible, after all, to create effective, sustainable, new regulations--or to reduce duplication and extraneous regulatory burden--without fully considering those external perspectives and issues.

So, we’ve learned to be ruthless about eliminating duplication and the costly, cumbersome regulatory patchwork that can place an unnecessary burden on public and private sectors alike.

The government of Canada has taken steps in recent years to begin modernizing our regulatory system for example:

• In 2008, we created the Major Projects Management Office for greater coordination and accountability in resource project reviews;
• In 2009, as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, we simplified the approval process for infrastructure projects; and
• In 2010, we amended the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to allow assessments to start sooner and to reduce delays and duplication.

In this spirit, I am working with my Cabinet colleagues to build on our record of modernization and efficiency with the goal of further strengthening environmental protection. It is our intention to improve co-ordination between federal, provincial and territorial governments on environmental assessments in order to eliminate duplication and save time and money, without compromising the quality of the review.

Given the way that federal and provincial jurisdictions so frequently overlap on environmental files, that’s a tall order. But we work to achieve it through the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment on air pollution and through federal/provincial Agreements in Principle on such issues as climate change.

Those agreements represent an important precedent.

For example, the Single Window Reporting system makes it simpler for industry to report and submit their greenhouse gas emissions data to Environment Canada.

The rule of “one project, one review” reduces expensive duplication and, if anything, makes that one review even more focused and more stringent.

We’re also using that same practical strategy to shape our domestic strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.

To achieve that goal, we have to step up our joint efforts with provinces like Ontario.

In 2009, Ontario's greenhouse gas emissions represented almost a quarter of the total amount for Canada. To help address that problem, the provincial government is closing coal-fired electricity plants, focusing on renewable energy sources, promoting energy conservation, investing in a smart power grid and major transit projects (or trying to).

The federal government supports those initiatives, especially given the way they mesh with our orderly sector-by-sector approach to reducing greenhouse gases.

We started with the transportation sector, the largest-single-source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. Along with the United States, we tightened vehicle emission standards... and we also made our gasoline greener requiring a higher renewable fuel content.

Those new regulations mean that, by 2015, air pollution levels in southern Ontario will be as much as 30 per cent lower than 2002 levels. And that's a huge win for both the environment and human health, especially in major urban areas like Toronto.

The next sector we addressed is coal-fired electricity generation. It’s a critical one for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for protecting air quality.

Without question, coal has been a tough slog... in part because electricity generation is something completely unique in each province and territory. Nonetheless, new standards are on track to be finalized this year and to take effect on July 1, 2015.

Again, federal/provincial co-operation has been critical: Ontario has closed 10 of its 19 coal units since 2003. Studies are ongoing with respect to the conversion of these facilities to other forms of fuel, including biomass.

Even before coal wraps up, Environment Canada has started to lay the foundation for regulated performance standards in other major-emitting industrial sectors, starting with oil and gas.

Aside from the emotional quotient, the process will be much the same, including extensive consultation with the industry and affected provinces to ensure that the proposed regulations accomplish their objective of reducing greenhouse gases, without curtailing competitiveness or diminishing the case for capital investment.

As for the oil sands, joint efforts will define success.

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

We recently announced the implementation phase of multi-year plan to collect and monitor the data required to shape the standards that will ensure this resource is developed in a sustainable, responsible way.

In this regard, the Government of Canada welcomes the recent announcement that 12 oil sands companies have formed the Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance to improve environmental performance. Innovation and collaboration, along with sharing of intellectual property, are key to improving environmental performance and meeting public expectations of better environmental protection.

Our shared objective with Alberta is to keep things as uncomplicated and uncluttered as possible. It helps that we’re entirely united on a single point: ensuring the highest possible environmental standards for oil sands development.

Whether it’s on the international front--or closer to home--there will never... never... be a time when the urgent need to improve and enhance our environmental performance will abate. Neither will there ever be a time when our commitment to set and enforce environmental rules and regulations is not a singular, national priority.

What’s heartening, however, is that we have the ingenuity and the inspiration to innovate... to make the steady progress, to ensure that our stewardship is a success... for us and for future generations.

Ironically, one of the things that led me to enter Canadian politics is the amount of time I spent working overseas as a journalist. That distance, that perspective allowed me to better understand--and to deeply appreciate--Canada's many strengths and many blessings.

We often lose sight of that and forget just how much good we can accomplish by emphasizing our shared values and interests rather than our differences.

Yesterday, I was part of another announcement about one of our many shared initiatives to clean up the Great Lakes. One of them in particular, a revitalization of Toronto's waterfront, is a prime example of the intersection of environmental and economic benefits.

In the past decade or so, reclamation of this city's waterfront has created 9,700 years of full-time employment and contributed almost $2 billion to the domestic economy.

There are many more of these opportunities ahead. And we need to position ourselves to optimize them through co-operation... through an efficient and streamlined regulatory process... through a shared vision and determination to succeed.

Thank you.