Government of Canada
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December 11, 1998

MINISTER ANNOUNCES CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECT AT SASKATCHEWAN SCIENCE CENTRE

REGINA — Visitors to the Saskatchewan Science Centre will soon be able to see how simple changes at home, at work and while driving can help cut down harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Ralph Goodale, Minister of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), was in Regina today to announce the launch of an interactive, hands-on exhibit about climate change to an audience of young Canadians at the Centre.

Climate change was also the topic of a speech today by Environment Minister Christine Stewart when she addressed the Calgary Chamber of Commerce on the one-year anniversary of the international climate change agreement reached in Kyoto, Japan. Minister Stewart also announced similar projects.

"With Public Outreach projects such as this one and those being announced today by Minister Stewart, we can take concrete steps to build Canadians' knowledge and understanding of the climate change challenge," said Minister Goodale. "We can promote the benefits of changing behaviour to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to mitigate the effects of climate change."

The Centre's Climate Change Project forms part of the Government of Canada's strategy to increase public awareness of climate change and to encourage Canadians to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is funded through the Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF), a $150-million fund the Government established to engage Canadians, businesses and communities in addressing climate change.

Of the total Science Centre budget of $540,000 for this project, $330,000 comes from the CCAF. The balance is from Saskatchewan business partners: SaskEnergy, Wascana Energy and the local media, as well as from NRCan's Office of Energy Efficiency.

"This project shows the power of cooperation among governments, business and industry, working together to address the climate change challenge," said Minister Goodale.

In addition to the interactive exhibit in the centre, Project Climate Change will consist of programming that can be used in school workshops, stage demonstrations, day camps and Science Centre sleepovers. The Centre will also develop a mobile exhibit to travel to various venues across the province, educational materials and equipment for teachers and youth in remote and rural communities, and a summer program, where staff from the Centre offer seminars in Saskatchewan's provincial parks and remote Aboriginal communities.

Although based on the science of climate change, the emphasis will be on educating the public about what they can do to lessen the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the environment at work, at home and on the road. Preliminary concepts for the science centre exhibit will be a representation to scale of a community, with a house, a school, businesses, vehicles and outdoor spaces such as farms and forests. Completion of the exhibit calls for construction to begin in January, with the official opening scheduled for March 31, 1999.

For more information, media may contact:

John Embury
Press Secretary
Natural Resources Canada
(613) 996-2007
or
John Snell
Director of Exhibits and Operations
Saskatchewan Science Centre
(306) 791-7900

The following three media backgrounders are also available:

(a) Climate Change Action Fund

(b) Climate Change Action Fund - Public Outreach Program - Summary of Early Action Projects

(c) Climate Change Action Fund - Science, Impacts and Adaptation - Summary of Early Action Projects