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Notes for remarks

by

The Honourable Laurel Broten
Minister of the Environment

Emerald Awards
“Celebrating Excellence at the Ministry of the Environment”

Marriott Downtown,
Toronto, ON
Thursday, February 2, 2006

(Check against delivery)

Thank you and good afternoon.

I hope it has been a great afternoon for everyone. I want to congratulate all of the recipients of the 2005 Emerald Awards.

I also want to thank Deputy Minister Paavo Kivisto, Jim Smith who acted as Champion, and the Emeralds Award Committee Chair, Agatha Garcia-Wright.

Each and every day vital, important work is done at the Ministry of the Environment. I have the great privilege of talking about your great work when meeting the great people of this province on a regular basis.

I want you to know that you have my full support and the support of Premier McGuinty and my colleagues at the legislature. The Premier is a committed champion of the environment, a leader who is driven by a vision of a greener, healthier province and a better world.

We all appreciate the talent and passion that you bring to your work – and no question, that’s what we need. Our world is facing tremendous challenges, and in so many corners.

Former US President Bill Clinton said last week at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland that climate change has “the power to fundamentally end the march of civilization as we know it.” Doesn’t that tell you just how prominently and seriously environmental issues are being treated on the world stage?

Undoubtedly, some of the greatest challenges facing the developing world today are environmental ones – issues like the availability of clean water.

Forty per cent of the world’s population lives with constant water shortages.

Eighty per cent of illnesses in developing countries are related to water quality.

And in some places, women spend so many hours a day retrieving water for their families that they can do nothing else.

While we are fortunate in Ontario not to face problems as great as these, we have our own challenges and we need to be vigilant in protecting our natural resources and our health.

Since becoming Minister of the Environment, I have benefited from your experience, expertise and good counsel. Without this, we could not have accomplished as much as we have together in such a short time.

This year’s Emerald Award recipients can take great pride in their outstanding accomplishments. Even with the consistently excellent work being done at the ministry, your efforts have stood out.

Les récipiendaires du prix Emerald de cette année peuvent être fiers de leurs accomplissements. Dans un ministère où le travail fournit est pourtant déjà excellent, leurs efforts les ont distingués au point de mériter notre reconnaissance.

The Emerald Award recipients are a diverse group of people, but you all have in common a commitment to a better environment and service to the people of Ontario.

These awards highlight some of our most notable accomplishments, but we should not forget that every day, across the ministry, we are making important progress. Since I arrived as Minister, there have been some major steps forward.

We have introduced the Clean Water Act, legislation that will give Ontario some of the best protected water in North America by focusing on prevention.

We have set tough, new standards for 40 air pollutants, the single biggest move on this file in 25 years.

We have capped the largest industrial sources of smog causing emissions.

We have improved the Drive Clean program to focus on vehicles that are most likely to pollute.

And we have finalized rules for the pre-treatment of hazardous waste.

We are also working in partnership with other ministries to meet our government-wide commitment to a cleaner environment.

We are moving forward on ethanol with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

We are making it easier to remediate brownfields, along with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The Greenbelt and Places To Grow are examples of multi-ministry efforts to deliver a strike against urban sprawl.

And of course, we are working with the Ministry of Energy on phasing out the coal plants and replacing them with energy conservation and cleaner, greener sources.

The results of this work will be cleaner air, safer drinking water, reduced waste and protected lands. All of this adds up to a healthier Ontario.

There is still important work to do. We need to continue to implement the O’Connor recommendations, and encourage U.S. states to work with us to clean up our common air shed. We must complete work on environmental penalties and improve the environmental assessment process.

These are great challenges, but we will succeed.

Albert Schweitzer once said “success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” I cannot think of a better way to describe the spirit of this ministry. We believe in what we do, and that is the greatest motivator there is.

Continuons de collaborer afin de préserver la santé des citoyens et de rendre les collectivités de l’Ontario plus sûres et plus prospères.

Faisons de 2006 l’année de la protection de l’environnement en Ontario.

Let’s keep working together to make Ontario communities healthier, safer and more prosperous.

Let’s make 2006 the best year ever for environmental protection in Ontario.

Thank you.

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