Minister's Speech

Remarks prepared for:

The Honourable John Gerretsen
Minister of the Environment

Biomass and Energy for the Great Lakes Economy
Queen’s University, Kingston, ON
June 9, 2008

(Check against delivery)

Good morning, everyone.

I’m pleased to join you today at this important conference on Biomass and Energy for the Great Lakes Economy. 

I want to thank Queen’s University for hosting these discussions on alternative energy — an issue vital to the health and prosperity of the Great Lakes region. 

The organizers have brought together people from across the spectrum to share ideas and best practices and look at ways we can find innovative energy solutions.  We’re joined by representatives from different levels of government, academia, science and the business sector.

Yesterday evening, my cabinet colleague Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield spoke about the potential role of forest biomass in Ontario’s clean energy future.

I am pleased that you have put today’s discussions in a Great Lakes context. 

Of course, this makes sense because of the importance of the region’s economy — a recent Brookings Institute study says if the Great Lakes region were a country, it would have the second largest economy in the world — second only to the U.S.

But it is important to keep in mind that this critical economic region depends on the continued health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Today, I want to talk about three things we must do to protect and sustain the Great Lakes ecosystem and ensure this region’s leadership in the new green economy of the twenty-first century.

• Protect and sustain this critical ecosystem
• Position the Great Lakes region in the new economy to become a world leader in clean energy production.
• Ensure a position of leadership by making the Great Lakes region a centre of innovation.

First and foremost, we must protect and sustain our Great Lakes waters and the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem.

That has been a key part of our government’s mandate since the beginning.

From our Clean Water Act to the Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario’s Water Act, to the Greenbelt Act … we’ve gone through a historic transformation on how we protect water in this province — with more to come.

These protections are critically important.

The Great Lakes are the largest body of freshwater on the planet, but to us in Ontario, they represent much more than that.  They provide us with energy, drinking water, transportation and recreation.  They are the engine of our economy.

But the Lakes are undergoing extreme pressures. 

There are the historic challenges of industrial pollution that needs to be contained and remediated.  There are sediments to clean up and habitat to restore. 

There are the present-day challenges of climate change, along with record-low water levels and invasive species to be dealt with.

The Great Lakes are changing. 

Our population is rapidly expanding. 

We need to address our urban footprint and initiatives like the Greenbelt are a good start at linking local watershed and municipal planning into a regional framework.

Most climate change models predict a range of significant impacts, including:

• lower water levels
• warmer water
• more extreme weather events with more droughts,
• flooding and erosion
• the possible failure of key infrastructure
• reduced access to our waterways
• reduced water quality, and
• more invasive species in our lakes, rivers and streams.

This is why we’re making climate change adaptation a much bigger focus of our efforts to protect water. 

To ensure that we have the innovative thinking and practical advice to meet this challenge, Ontario recently created an Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation. 

We’ve got some very high-calibre people on board including Nobel Prize winner Dr. Ian Burton. 

Here in Ontario, we are looking to build a more extensive knowledge base of the kind of climate change impacts we can expect in our province. 

We intend to incorporate this knowledge in the development of our policies … across all government ministries, and in all economic sectors.

Adaptation is now built into the major agreements and legislation protecting our waters — including the Great Lakes Charter Annex and the 2007 Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem.

The Great Lakes include many different jurisdictions and we are continuing to work with all our partners, here in Canada and across our borders, to protect our shared resources.

I recently called for a renewal of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.  The agreement was the catalyst for so many of the great success stories we’ve seen in the Great Lakes basin but it hasn’t been renewed in 20 years. 

It’s time the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was reinvigorated to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century and build on the improvements we’ve made around Ontario.

We have de-listed two “Areas of Concern” specifically Collingwood Harbour and Severn Sound,  and taken one “Area of Concern” namely Spanish Harbour to “Area in Recovery” status. 

The Bay of Quinte “Area of Concern” is also showing improvement. We hope to have it declared an “Area in Recovery” by 2012.

And the St. Lawrence River at Cornwall, another example close to home, is expected to be de-listed as an “Area of Concern” in the next two years.

These are areas where we’ve begun to restore the balance in the Great Lakes ecosystems.

Protecting and sustaining Lake Simcoe is also a priority for our government, where we’re developing a new strategy that pulls together environmental protection and planning for future growth and prosperity.

Our goal is to protect the lake and its watershed, but we also want to set a new benchmark for sustainable growth that we can use in other parts of the province.

So, we are working on many levels to protect the Great Lakes and our energy choices are a key part of that.

The impact of climate change on the Great Lakes directly affects our ability to produce energy. 

And of course, our energy supply choices directly affect the health of the Great Lakes as well as our greenhouse gas emissions.

Which brings me to my second imperative; we need to position the Great Lakes region in the new economy as a world leader in clean energy production.

Our government is moving forward with an ambitious climate change plan with the goal of reducing emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels by 2014 and 15 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

And we’re setting out the measures to achieve these targets with new regulations, new investment in innovative technologies, conservation, and much more renewable energy. 

We are saying no to coal.  By 2014, Ontario will no longer be using coal for energy generation. 

Moving away from coal won’t be easy, but it is also forcing us to move quickly to bring cleaner sources of energy online. 

Wind power is a good example.  Our government is sparing no effort to make Ontario the leading producer of renewable wind power in Canada. 

The number of wind turbines in this province has grown from 10 in 2003 to more than 700 in place or in development … and we’re still nowhere near using wind energy to its full potential.

Later this month, World Wind Energy Conference will be taking place here in Kingston.  Experts from all over the globe will be coming here to discuss ways we can harness wind power to help provide clean, renewable energy.

Solar power is also an important alternative that has great potential.  The largest solar farm in North America is being built near Sarnia, so we know our province can be a leader in this field.

We also need to look at the potential role of other sources — like biomass and energy-from-waste — to become part of Ontario’s future energy mix. 

We must make today’s alternative energy sources part of tomorrow’s mainstream supply. Ontario is encouraging innovation and has recently approved a number of new energy from waste projects.

New regulations are making it easier for municipalities and industry to divert waste from landfill, use specific alternative fuels, and to test and develop new waste management technologies, including new Energy from Waste technologies.

The regulations also provide or broaden exemptions from the waste approvals process for producing bio-diesel and ethanol fuel made from waste biomass and to use wood-waste as alternative fuel. 

Innovation and new technology will be key to our success in moving from a fossil-fuel economy to a new greener economy built on sustainability.

Finally, I would suggest we must reinforce our position of leadership by making the Great lakes region a centre of innovation.

The Great Lakes economy attracts people from all over the world because of the tremendous advantages we enjoy here —

• our natural resources,
• the infrastructure of a thriving economy,
• top-notch health care and
• tremendous educational opportunities.

Queen’s University is but one example of the world-class institutions in the Great Lakes region.  It has great potential as a leader in developing clean technologies and solutions … and getting them into the marketplace.

Our government is supporting this kind of work because we believe Ontario can lead the world in this area.

The Next Generation of Jobs Fund is part of Ontario's plan to keep pace with changes in the global economy and create jobs.  We’re providing $1.15 billion to support companies developing clean cars, clean fuels and clean technologies and products here in Ontario.

And our four-year, $24-million Innovation Demonstration Fund helps companies develop promising new technologies by supporting them at the pilot or demonstration project stage.

There’s no denying we face significant challenges in the Great Lakes region. 

It’s equally clear many exciting developments are taking place. 

I believe we have a great opportunity to ensure the Great Lakes region continues to lead the world … as a model of sustainability and a place that raises the bar for integrating environmental protection and economic growth.

This is a goal we can — and must — achieve.  But we can only do it if we work together.

I want to thank everyone for coming out to this important conference.  The work we do here will lead to a healthier, more prosperous future for Ontario … and for our planet. 

Thank you.

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