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Notes for remarks
by
The Honourable Leona Dombrowsky
Minister of the Environment
MPP Hastings-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington Announcing

Announcing the Environmental Leaders Program

Steelcase Canada, Toronto
Wednesday, September 29, 2004

(Check against delivery)

Thank you, Gene (Gene Lai, Vice-President of Operations) for the kind introduction.

I am honoured to share the stage with you and with Mike Fenata (Operations Manager).

I am pleased to have the opportunity to meet some of the Steelcase executive team, including Rob Fairs, Kelly Jarvis, Stav Kontis and from Steelcase Corporation in the U.S., Larry Selig and Dave Rinard. Welcome!

We have some other important guests with us today:

Ken Ogilvie, Executive Director of Pollution Probe;

Norm Huebel, Ontario Regional Director with the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association;

and Bill Humber, Chair, Centre for the Built Environment at Seneca College.

Together, Ken, Norm and Bill make up the management committee for a new program that I am launching today - Ontario’s Environmental Leaders program.

The Environmental Leaders Program is part of the McGuinty government’s commitment to transform environmental protection in Ontario.

Everyone in Ontario understands that good environmental practices contribute to our quality of life, our health and our prosperity.

Our government wants to make Ontario an example for Canada and the world as a place where good business and environmental responsibility go hand-in-hand.

Well, you cannot take the lead without leaders.

That is why we feel it is so important to highlight forward-thinking companies that set an example for other businesses.

Today, I am pleased to announce the launch of a new program – the Environmental Leaders Program.

This initiative rewards companies that go beyond current regulatory standards for emissions and discharges.

Steelcase Canada is the first company to participate in the program.

This is a great accomplishment.

The Environmental Leaders program is designed to recognize companies that have a strong track record and want to make a commitment to doing even more.

As a charter member in the Environmental Leaders Program, Steelcase has proven itself a progressive and leading Ontario company.

How did Steelcase do it?

Well, it had to demonstrate a few things to my ministry.

First, Steelcase had to show it has a strong environmental track record.

It had to consistently meet environmental standards.

It also had to have an environmental management system in place and an emissions inventory prepared.

It had to commit to reporting publicly on its progress.

Finally, it had to commit to reducing its emissions or discharges

Those are the broad requirements for any company that wants to become an Environmental Leader.

These requirements are a high bar for many to reach.

Steelcase has a long record of first-class environmental achievements, and through the Environmental Leaders Program, the company is pledging more for the future.

At the Recycling Council of Ontario’s Waste Minimization Awards held earlier this year, Steelcase Canada won the Platinum Business Award for demonstrating reductions in the use of resources, energy and waste materials, as well as reduced air and water emissions.

Steelcase Canada also received the Platinum Waste Minimization Award and the Environmentally Sustainable Business Award from RCO.

These accomplishments reflect an environmental commitment that is integral to Steelcase’s operations throughout the world.

For the future, Steelcase Canada is pledging to eliminate smog-producing volatile organic compounds from its painting processes – from nine tonnes in 2003 to zero by 2008.

The company is doing this by switching from solvent-based paints to powder coat paints.

Steelcase Canada has also pledged to reduce its electricity consumption by 10 per cent by 2008.

This will result in a reduction of about 400 tonnes of carbon dioxide, as well as reductions in nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide.

Members of the Environmental Leaders Program are eligible for incentives from the government.

Through the Environmental Leaders Program, we will reward companies that go the extra distance with recognition, better access, flexible approvals and additional support.

This program means that in the future, leading businesses will spend less time on environmental paperwork and more time on environmental improvements.

Clean practices are good for the bottom line.

Environmentally responsible companies are profitable companies.

Strong environmental performers also tend to have a better workplace climate because they involve more employees in the search for cleaner ways to carry out their business.

The Environmental Leaders Program is a new and innovative way to encourage leaders in industry to do even more for the environment.

Our government is transforming the way it manages pollution.

For too many years, bad practices have been allowed to carry on and not enough was done to encourage innovation and environmental leadership.

No more.

Our government says the people of Ontario deserve better.

Dirty business is bad business.

Clean business is smart business.

World-leading companies like Steelcase have figured this out.

It is time for everyone else to catch up.

And if they need some help catching up, our government has a plan to encourage them.

Here is how we are transforming our approach to pollution:

• We are going to crack down harder on polluters and reward good performers with incentives like Environmental Leaders;
• We are going to implement a risk-based approach to environmental inspections to ensure we consider the local risks to community health;
• And we are going to make more information available to the public in a more timely manner.

Today, with the Environmental Leaders Program, we are off to a great start.

We have raised the bar on environmental performance in Ontario. And Steelcase Canada is the first company to clear the bar.

I challenge other leading companies with good environmental track records to rise to this level.

We all share responsibility for the environment.

It is great to see companies like Steelcase Canada make such a strong commitment to act as stewards of Ontario’s air, water and land.

Even better, I believe we will see even more companies join the Environmental Leaders Program and take environmental protection to new heights in Ontario.

It is now my great honour to present Steelcase Canada with this certificate as Ontario’s first Environmental Leader…

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