About the Minister

The Honourable
John Gerretsen,
MPP Kingston
and The Islands

Minister of the
Environment, Ontario

John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment for Ontario, was first elected in 1995 to represent Kingston and The Islands. He was re-elected in 1999, 2003 and 2007. He was appointed Minister of the Environment in October 2007 and, in January 2010, Minister Gerretsen took on additional responsibilities as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, a portfolio he held previously from 2003 to 2007.

Minister Gerretsen’s top priority as Minister of the Environment has been to guide the implementation of the government’s climate change action plan including meeting targeted greenhouse gas reductions of 6% by 2014 and 15% by 2020. In addition to historic investments in public transit and phasing out coal-fired electricity generation by 2014, a key component of Ontario’s climate change action plan includes the development of a cap-and-trade program. Legislation providing for a cap and trade program to allow Ontario to link to other systems in North America and abroad was passed by the Ontario Legislature in December 2009.

As Minister of the Environment, Mr. Gerretsen also introduced legislation to ban the use and sale of cosmetic pesticides province wide and brought forward landmark legislation to protect Lake Simcoe. Minister Gerretsen announced Ontario’s Toxics Reduction Strategy and introduced the Toxics Reduction Act, which was passed in June 2009, to improve quality of life and to help develop a greener economy.

In 2009, he served as President of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. During Minister Gerretsen’s term as President, the Council developed a Canada-wide Action Plan for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a sustainable packaging strategy and a Canada-wide strategic vision for water that featured a water efficiency labelling program.

As Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in the first term of the McGuinty government, he brought forward the award-winning Greenbelt Plan. Mr. Gerretsen was also responsible for new, stronger planning legislation and bringing the Ontario Building Code to the most energy efficient standards in Canada.

 

To write to the Minister of the Environment:

The Honourable John Gerretsen
Minister of the Environment
77 Wellesley Street West
11th Floor, Ferguson Block
Toronto ON
M7A 2T5

Email the Minister.

Telephone: (416) 314-6790
Fax: (416) 314-7337