Minister's Speech

Remarks prepared for:

The Honourable John Gerretsen
Minister of the Environment

Ontario Environmental Industry Day
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

(Check against delivery)

Welcome to Queen's Park everyone.

I'm glad to be here today.  I’ve already had the pleasure of meeting many of you at GLOBE and at Post-GLOBE.

Environment Industry Day at Queen’s Park is a great place to showcase what’s up and coming in your dynamic sector.

Thanks in good part to ONEIA and its members, Ontario’s environment industry is becoming known world-wide for its innovative products and green technologies.   

As you probably know, the environment industry in Ontario is now employing about 60,000 people and generating $8 billion in revenues — that represents more than 40 per cent of Canada’s environmental sector.  And that number keeps growing every year.

But as we all know, there’s much more going on behind all those numbers.

It’s about good jobs, a strong economy, healthy people and sustainable communities.  It’s about building a better future for all Ontarians. 

That’s what we all want.

And we know that in the face of climate change, and the challenges it presents to our society as a whole, every place on earth is going to need to find ways to conserve resources and create a more sustainable world for our children and grandchildren. 

Finding solutions for the problems associated with climate change and our finite resources is our government's top environmental priority.

This means a basic transformation, from a society that consumes to one that conserves and renews.

And as that happens … we want Ontario to be the place that people look to for those solutions … for the clean technology that will help us reduce our carbon footprint, and ensure we have clean air to breathe, safe water to drink and well-protected land.

The move towards a greener economy is no longer a small but valiant effort — it’s a real and tangible business that can only grow and become more important in the years to come.  

Our government has demonstrated its commitment to developing that business through our partnership with the Ontario Environment Industry Association.

In the spirit of that partnership, I am pleased to say that we have three new members of Ontario’s Environmental Leaders program … one of which, Fielding Chemical, is represented  here today.

I will be making public announcement next week at the Green Living Show to recognize Fielding, as well as the other two new OEL members; General Motors and Exhibition Place for the excellent efforts they are making on behalf of the environment.

There is no doubt that a great deal of impressive work is being done by ONEIA members. 

Environmental engineering, clean and renewable energy, cleaning up contaminated water, air filtration, environmentally-responsible products … we’ve got all that and the list keeps expanding.

Your innovative products and services are in growing demand.

That demand can only increase as people in Ontario and elsewhere look for ways to live more sustainably and reduce their carbon footprint.

We want Ontario to take the lead in the green economy and we’re investing in getting there.

Premier McGuinty recently announced the creation of Ontario's Next Generation of Jobs Fund.  This new fund provides $1.15 billion for companies, institutions and individuals to encourage the innovation and invention process for green technologies.

The fund will support work in a number of areas — clean automotive and other green technology, health and biotech research and development as well as pharmaceutical research and engineering.

When the Premier announced the Next Generations of Jobs Fund he also directed the Ministry of Research and Innovation to work toward a strategy for the clean tech sector.

We have heard loud and clear that if we have a strategy that locks investment into that sector, along with regulatory reform on the MOE side, then we are well on our way to building the kind of strong, successful economy we all want.

We can't afford to sit around and wait for it to happen somewhere else.  We're not waiting for someone else to come up with the next generation of low energy light bulbs, better solar panels, or better water treatment — we’re putting policy in place to make it happen right here in Ontario.

There is just simply no reason why Ontario cannot and should not be the silicon valley of green technology and green jobs and together we need to make that happen.

Virtually every sector of business — whether it’s transportation, energy, natural resources, agriculture or construction — will be undergoing a fundamental transformation.

As markets and industry respond to that change, we need to maintain Ontario’s role as a leader in this new economy and we plan to do just that. 

The success of Ontario’s Environmental Industry is good news for everyone.  It helps us meet our own environmental challenges and our responsibilities to the international community as well.

It also offers a tremendous opportunity here in Ontario. 

We have what it takes to succeed in a new, sustainable economy.  We have some great companies doing good work here and we are helping them take it to the next level.

Let’s continue to work together on building a successful environmental industry.  I look forward to hearing from you and I want to thank you again for taking the time to be here today.

Thank you.

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