Speech

Good morning!

I’m delighted to join Minister (Sterling) Belliveau and Mr. (Rob) Bennett today. It’s so nice to be visiting Nova Scotia in the springtime.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Rob. I’ve heard so much about the impressive new home for Nova Scotia power. It speaks volumes about the commitment of the province to reducing its carbon footprint.

Rest assured that, when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Government of Canada is ready to work with you.

It was just over two years ago that Canada and Nova Scotia signed an Agreement in Principle to cooperate on efforts to fight climate change. In it, we said we would develop a coordinated approach towards environmental outcomes that could be recognized in equivalency agreements under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Today, we continue to collaborate, working together to develop an equivalency agreement for the coal-fired electricity sector. This will achieve the same greenhouse gas reductions as the federal approach while providing Nova Scotia the flexibility to take an approach that best suits its particular circumstances.

It’s no secret that electricity is a key battleground in the fight against climate change. If we can improve our standards for generating electricity, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. At the same time, we will reduce air pollutant emissions that will lead to improved air quality and health for all Canadians.

Last August, after extensive consultations, the Government of Canada proposed regulations for the electricity sector. Essentially, they called for stringent performance standards, both for new plants that generate electricity through coal and for existing coal-fired units that have reached the end of their ‘economic life’. We expect the final regulations will be published in the next few months and come into force in 2015.

And this is where equivalency agreements come in.

No one wants two sets of regulations with similar environmental outcomes governing electricity producers. That’s why our Government is open to agreements that allow provincial regulations to be considered equivalent to federal ones. Basically, under these agreements, the federal regulation sets the desired outcome, and if a provincial regulation has an equivalent outcome, the federal regulation would not apply in that province.

Canada is very pleased to be working with Nova Scotia towards an equivalency agreement in the electricity sector. We share the same goal: an agreement that will help avoid duplication, that will not pose an undue regulatory burden on industry, and that, above all, will reduce emissions.

Of course, Canada stands ready to pursue the same kinds of agreements with any province or territory. It’s all part of our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020, as we committed to under the Copenhagen Accord. We remain committed to that goal.

Thank you.