Speaking Notes for the Honourable Christine Stewart, P.C., M.P.
Minister of the Environment

Federation of Canadian Municipalities

June 5, 1998
Regina, Saskatchewan

Importance of Municipal Leaders

As all of you know, I am but the first of several federal Cabinet Ministers who will meet with you this weekend — capped off by the Prime Minister.

In fact, around Ottawa, we talked about having a cabinet meeting here.

We are here because you are our elected colleagues in touch daily with local industries, local schools, local service clubs, local parks, local realities.

And we are here because your association delivers. You don’t just talk the talk. You walk the walk.

I come from an international development background. In this field, my work for 17 years was at the grassroots level where the action is.

You are Canada’s grassroots. Ottawa can develop tools to guide action but the results occur at the grassroots in your communities.

The federal government worked with cities and towns on the municipal infrastructure program. We guided it. You did it.

The FCM took the initiative to initiate the 20 per cent Club. You did it. And we applaud it.

And in respect of doers, I would like to pay special tribute to the exceptional example of environmental leadership shown by Councillor Dan Leckie,, whose death last week was a personal loss to so many people in this room. He started the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, which is helping to reduce greenhouse emissions in Toronto, an initiative I hope other cities across Canada will follow.

To put it simply, I want the help and partnership of the FCM. I want the help and the partnership of every municipality in Canada.

National Priorities

After one year as Canada’s Minister of the Environment, I have decided to pursue four clear priorities.

They are priorities based on scientific research. Science which shows us the real problems and the far reaching impacts. Science which leads us to the solutions.

They are also priorities that have come forward in meeting after meeting with Canadians.

They are priorities that Canadians understand and want to do something about. They are priorities for which the federal government can be held accountable to Canadians.

The four priorities are:

• Clean air
• Clean water
• Climate change
• Nature

It is my profound conviction that we can and must set and reach major goals in each of those priority areas. And the emphasis there is on "we".

We must protect the environment for future generations. We must protect the health of future generations.

The federal government can and will lead.

But the environment is not just the responsibility of the federal government.

It is the responsibility of every level of government.

It is the responsibility of every sector of society, every industry, every small business, every neighbourhood, every family, every individual.

Need for Local Action

I have always believed that Canada’s most important resource is her people..

It is the creativity, the energy and the commitment of millions of citizens engaged in local action which will ensure the renewal of our environment.

It is that local action which is instrumental to protecting the health of future generations.

Local action for clean air.
Local action for clean water.
Local action to combat climate change.
And local action to safeguard the diversity of nature.

As caring citizens we need to accept and share a personal sense of responsibility for the environment.

Our nation possesses one-tenth of the world’s fresh water.

One-seventh of the world’s forests.

One-fifth of the globe’s natural areas.

And one-quarter of our planet’s wetlands.

Serious Challenges Before Us

Let us also remind ourselves of the dangers that arise when we do not act internationally, nationally, provincially and locally to protect the environment.

We see the consequences for not acting in environmentally sustainable ways:

We see a doubling of lethal skin cancer rates in Canada over the last 15 years.

We see thousands of infant admissions to hospitals caused by air pollution.

We see risk to species.

We see the effects on our children, our future

In less than three decades, cancer rates for Canadian boys are up by 25 percent. Cancer rates for girls are up by 42 percent.

I’m a nurse. Three decades ago, we knew what cancer looked like. We knew how to diagnose cancer. These increases in cancer rates in our children are real!!

A Proven Approach

The responsibilities are daunting. The problems are serious. The science is complex.

But the direction is obvious.

Action is required by every sector and at every level to set goals, to work together and to fulfill our respective responsibilities. That is what achieves results. That is what works.

The provinces and industry are critical in undertaking the work ahead and in achieving the best possible results. There is no doubt about that.

There is also no doubt about your responsibilities as municipal leaders and your power to make things happen.

Local communities have the power to make an enormous difference for the better.

We have clear examples that prove the point.

As Councillor Joan King of Toronto wrote me: "We are currently using gas from three landfills to make electricity ... eliminating four million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually."

And other municipalities represented in this room are making a valuable difference through the incorporation of wildlife corridors, through the protection and expansion of green spaces, and through a major cutback in the use of pesticides.

I would like to work vigorously with you at the grassroots level to achieve environmental results.

The federal government, acting in concert with provincial and municipal leaders, refused to accept an unending deterioration of the Great Lakes. Local communities reduced phosphorus wastes and engaged in clean up of designated hot spots. The Great Lakes are beginning to live again. The Great Lakes are becoming great again.

Sound science. Federal, provincial and local leadership. Wide support. Incredible community action. Positive environmental impact. Positive economic impact.

Everyone working together to design ecosystem initiatives and to bring them to life. That is my vision.

That same approach is restoring the St. Lawrence.

25 years ago, that mighty river was poisoned and the beluga whales were disappearing. Today, toxic discharges into the river from 50 major industrial plants have been reduced by 96 per cent. And the beluga are coming back.

The same cooperative approach has shown results on our Atlantic shores and along the Fraser River in B.C. From coast to coast to coast, hundreds of communities and thousands and thousands of volunteers are making a difference.

When local communities are asked for input, when they are provided with information and know-how, Canada achieves results that the federal government could never achieve on its own.

Strong Federal Leadership

But make no mistake. The federal government will lead the charge for environmental protection. And we will continue to do the science.

It is critical to accept individual responsibility in tandem with broad-based partnership.

I have recently introduced a new Canadian Environmental Protection Act with tougher enforcement and whistle-blower protection.

We have signed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. And we’ll work with the widest possible cross-section of Canadians on our national reductions strategy.

We have signed a path-breaking agreement with the provinces on harmonization — to ease the bureaucracy and red tape while maintaining the highest level of environmental protection.

The Chrétien government is the only G-8 government that has had the courage to put in place an independent Commissioner for Sustainable Development whose mandate is to hold the federal government’s feet to the fire — and to do so publicly. You may have noticed! My feet are still burning!

And that same Chrétien government, working with partners, will do much more to address those four priority areas.

To ensure cleaner air, I’ll come forward with federal regulations on sulphur in gasoline. And Canada will have new standards on ground-level ozone and benzene.

And we’ll exercise leadership on international efforts to combat airborne pollutants.

To ensure cleaner water, we’re strengthening the Canadian Environmental Protection Act by putting an emphasis on pollution prevention and toughening the rules on toxic chemicals. For the worst toxic chemicals, we will be requiring polluters to prepare plans to virtually eliminate releases of these substances to the environment.

To combat climate change, we will make certain that Canada moves strongly towards our global commitments by encouraging early action and information to make that happen. We’re committed to reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by 134 million tonnes. And we’re putting in an additional $150 million of resources towards Canada’s efforts.

To enhance the diversity of nature, we shall pass the first-ever national legislation to protect endangered species.

Those federal actions are necessary to address the problems. But they are not sufficient.

The most effective results require partnership with you and action by you.

Local action, local innovation, local stewardship is vital.

National challenges require pan-Canadian commitment.

Millennium Eco-Communities

I am today challenging every community in Canada to become a millennium eco-community. I urge every municipality to set strong local goals for the year 2000.

I need municipal counterparts.

I would like every local council to have an elected official to participate in community based action on the environment. That is a beginning challenge to you.

I would like every one of our 16,500 schools to have its own student council Minister of the Environment.

A locally inspired and initiated millennium eco-community would incorporate municipalities, schools, service clubs and chambers of commerce, local industries and local naturalist groups in setting and meeting local goals.

In issuing this challenge, I recognize fully the wise work already done by municipalities in delivering on an agenda of clean air, clean water, green spaces, solid waste reduction and transit systems. And I know that municipalities were engaged in this effort even before the creation of Environment Canada.

I want to work with Millennium Eco-Communities and you to keep advancing that agenda forward to the utmost of our abilities.

Every one of us owes it to each other and to our children and grandchildren to take every action possible to cut those deaths from air and water pollution.

To turn back the dangers of climate change caused by carbon dioxide.

To guarantee a legacy of diverse and bountiful nature.

As you know, the government is committed to linking every community in the country to the Internet. Therefore, I am making the Internet the hub of Environment Canada’s Millenium Eco-Community initiative. It will be the Community Centre. I am encouraging all federal Members of Parliament to act as a catalyst for the development of these communities.

Communities will register at our cyber site, be recognized and encouraged.

We’ll make sure they can share best practices.

And we’ll provide access to the spectrum of scientific know-how from Environment Canada and other sources.

The federal government will provide complete information on projects and progress.

We’ll chat with you and link you to others.

We will provide a tool kit of information and answers to frequent questions

And the federal government will publicly recognize and honour those communities which set serious targets and make significant achievements.

Clean air.
Clean water.
Climate change.
Nature.

Huge responsibilities.

That is why we need schools and community groups, service clubs and science clubs, elementary students and elderly citizens to share information, to share best practices, to take responsibility as citizens.

National results require community action.

International accomplishments require local commitment.

Global success requires local resolve.

Over the summer, I shall meet with communities across Canada to hear their needs directly so that we can make these results happen.

The millennium is ahead of us. Our legacy is ahead of us. Our children’s future is ahead of us.

Clean air.
Clean water.
Climate change.
Nature.

Four themes that require our most serious efforts if we are to repay our exceptional fortune of living in Canada.

Four themes that require vision from all of us, responsibility from all of us and a commitment to partnership from all of us.

Four themes that require the utmost in national action and the utmost in local action.

They are the priorities by which I expect my actions to be judged as a Cabinet Minister. And they are priorities by which we shall all be judged by future generations.

Citizen involvement.

Citizen responsibility.

A vision of Canadians working together in partnership.

That vision requires our collective leadership.

That leadership can unleash the creativity required to achieve results. Results that will make a difference for our environment. Results that will make a difference for our children and grandchildren.

Thank you.