Message from the Minister

As the new Minister of the Environment since July 2004, I would like to report that I am proud of the accomplishments of the MSC and its staff during 2003-2004.

In 2003-2004, Canadians from coast to coast experienced a year of non-stop weather disasters. From forest fires in British Columbia, which caused the second largest evacuation in Canadian history, to Hurricane Juan, which battered the East Coast and felled 100 million trees as it tore across Nova Scotia and PEI, 2003 was one of Canada’s most extreme and expensive years for weather-related disasters.

Fortunately, Canadians had ample warning of these, and thousands of other severe weather events in 2003 due to the vigilance, dedication and professionalism of the staff at the Meteorological Service of Canada, who serve Canadians 24/7, 365 days a year.

However, weather forecasting is only a small part of the work that is done by the 2 000 employees of the MSC. Aside from meteorologists, the MSC employs hundreds of scientists, technicians, researchers, and analysts who work to support Canada’s environmental priorities, including clean air, water supplies, and climate change.

MSC staff carried out important work related to each of these priority areas in 2003-2004. They contributed their expertise to the development of Threats to Water Availability in Canada, a national study that identifies threats to Canada’s freshwater sources, and highlights the need for action on many fronts to ensure Canadians’ future access to adequate supplies of clean, safe and secure freshwater.

The study also identifies climate change as one of the threats to Canada’s sources of freshwater. MSC scientists study many of the effects of climate change and were instrumental in producing Climate, Nature, People: Indicators of Canada’s Changing Climate, a report issued by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment in 2003. The report describes changes to Canada’s climate during the 20th century and to 12 indicators and suggests that the climate in many regions of Canada is changing.

The MSC is also making important contributions to three pilot projects under the Border Air Quality Strategy that was announced with the United States in June 2003. These projects build on earlier cross-border initiatives that are reducing acid rain and smog-causing pollutants, and helping to strengthen Canada-U.S. relations. The MSC continues to advance and improve the National Air Quality Forecast Program as well.

I encourage you to read the MSC 2003-2004 annual report to learn more about these and other exciting initiatives that continue the proud tradition of excellence that the Meteorological Service of Canada has been building since 1871.

The Honourable Stéphane Dion, P.C., M.P.
Ottawa, Ontario

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