Location: Ministry Home > News > Minister's Speeches > Speech

Notes for remarks

by

The Honourable Laurel Broten
Minister of the Environment

International Emissions Trading Association Breakfast (Toronto)
“Ontario’s Leadership on Climate Change”

Toronto Stock Exchange
Toronto, ON
Thursday, September 22, 2005

(Check Against Delivery)

Thank you and good morning.

I am delighted to welcome our guests to Toronto and the great province of Ontario.

Premier Dalton McGuinty has asked me to forward his regards and best wishes for a productive meeting.

We are honoured to be joined today by Deputy Commissioner Artur Runge-Metzger and we look forward to what you have to tell us about the European experience with emissions trading and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

I also want to thank Andrei Marcu and Robert Fotheringham for their thoughts on trading and its role a little closer to home.

As Ontario’s new Minister of the Environment, my mandate is very specific. My government is committed to strengthening our province and improving the health of our people for a strong and prosperous future.

Environmental health is key to that vision. I am very concerned about threats to the health of children, families and communities.

Of course, these are concerns that are shared by people everywhere.

I believe that our success – and I mean “our” in the broadest possible sense – depends on our ability to provide a sustainable future for the generations that will follow us.

Our goals are the same. What is good for the environment is also good for business.

New processes and technologies can reduce costs and improve efficiency at the same time as they reduce emissions and waste.

Market-based solutions like emissions trading will favour dynamic and innovative companies over those that stick to the status quo, and will lead to cleaner air and healthier communities.

We all want to end up in the same place: clean, competitive industries in thriving communities with a high quality of life. Our planning and our solutions should go hand in hand.

Climate change is one of the greatest threats that we face collectively.

That’s why I’m so interested to hear your thoughts on how emissions trading can help us address an issue of such monumental and global importance.

Ontario wholeheartedly endorses our federal government’s stand on the Kyoto Protocol.

Ontario also supports the development of a national greenhouse gas trading system to assist Canada in reaching its Kyoto objectives as efficiently as possible.

Our approach involves actions that reduce emissions for both smog and greenhouse gases. We believe that dealing with these issues together provides significant opportunities for cost savings compared to dealing with them as separate issues.

Ontario is Canada’s economic engine and a large source of climate change emissions, and the actions we take are essential to meeting national commitments.

The move toward cleaner and greener power is complemented by our Five-Point Plan for Cleaner Air. It will reduce industrial emissions of harmful air pollutants from key industrial sectors.

• We have set tough, new standards for 40 air toxins, the single biggest move on this file in 25 years.
• We have capped the largest industrial sources of smog causing emissions.
• We are rejuvenating our energy system by phasing out the coal plants and replacing them with energy conservation and cleaner, greener sources.
• We are protecting 1.8 million acres of important land through the Greenbelt, a blow against the blight of urban sprawl.
• And by investing in public transit, giving people a real choice about their own transportation mode.

I am proud to belong to a government that is taking such aggressive and innovative action to address air quality in Ontario.

We are serious about air pollution.

We are closing coal-fired electricity plants.

We are investing in new, greener fuels such as ethanol.

We are leading the energy conservation effort by cutting our own energy use by 10 per cent.

But just as importantly, we have consulted with the business community to ensure that environmental protection and economic opportunities both move forward.

In Ontario today, innovation is rewarded and advanced technologies are championed. We are replacing the monolithic coal industry, with its history of pollution, with something cleaner and smarter.

I’m happy to now turn over the floor to Deputy Commissioner Runge-Metzger.

Thank you.

- end -