For the sake of effectiveness and efficiency, this transcript is posted in the official language in which the teleconference was conducted.

Although care has been taken in preparing this transcript, Environment Canada does not and cannot guarantee its accuracy. Environment Canada shall not be liable for the accuracy of this transcript nor for delays or omissions therein.

Rona Ambrose: Thank you very much and welcome. I am very pleased to be here today with my provincial and territorial colleagues to establish a biofuel strategy. This is a very important national strategy for the environment. It is a very important strategy for the Canadian economy. We are very happy to be here today. On behalf of the federal government to launch the process to implement a 5% biofuel strategy for Canada. I'm very pleased to be here to have the political will from our provincial colleagues and from our territorial colleagues to move forward with a plan that we know Canadians want to see happen and our government wants to see work.

Clay Serby: Well, thank you very much. I want to say on behalf of Saskatchewan and for sure my colleagues who are here from across the country how pleased we are to have in our province the three federal ministers led by minister Ambrose. Clearly the renewable fuel strategy for not only Saskatchewan but Canada is an outstanding process. We know that over the next number of months, the ministers have put together, the federal ministers have put together a timetable which we think is very ambitious. It is important I think for us to recognize the leadership that is going to be provided at the national level to bring together a standard for us across Canada.

We are extremely pleased of course that we launched this discussion and this meeting in our province, given that we have a mandate already in Saskatchewan, that we are meeting many of our obligations that are in place today for a national fuel standard and to have it in our backyard here in Saskatchewan and to have our colleagues from across the country here is just an honor for us to be moving forward on.

Rona Ambrose: Thank you, thank you Clay. It is no accident that we chose Saskatchewan and asked Saskatchewan to co-chair this meeting with us and co-host this meeting with us because Saskatchewan has been a leader on biofuels development and Canada, the government of Canada. This is our first step in honoring our commitment that the prime minister made during the election on moving to a 5% biofuel content in Canada. This is a very ambitious timetable that we have set out, but we know it is reachable. It is achievable and we are making clear commitments in showing clear action today to reach that target by 2010.

I think it is important that people recognize this is a historic meeting. This is the first time in Canadian history that the ministers responsible for renewable fuels have assembled at the federal / provincial level. It is important because of what it has done is bring together different components that are necessary to make this a success. We have the ministers of environment, agriculture and energy all around the table. It is key for this strategy to succeed, that we see it from three different lenses, that it not reduces emissions from an environmental perspective, but that there be a strong agricultural component to make sure the producers participate in this growing economic opportunity and of course, for industry to be able to participate as well.

So we are pleased to be here with all of these different perspectives at the table. We had a very successful meeting in moving forward and this is an ambitious agenda, but we know that we can do it together.

Question: (Inaudible) the 5% biofuel content by 2010, is that essentially a percentage coming out of the meeting?

Rona Ambrose: Yes, I would suggest that we have a successful will to move forward. I will say that provinces like Saskatchewan would like to see a higher – a higher target and we applaud them for wanting to reach even a higher target because of the good work that they have done in their own province, but from a national framework perspective, it is important that we recognize there are some regions of the country that don't have the same capacity at this point to reach the 5%. So 5% is ambitious. Our U.S. counterparts will be at a 4% renewable fuel content by 2012 and the European Union will be at a 5.75% renewable content by 2010.

So 5% is ambitious, it is not very far away, but we know it is reachable, it is achievable and we will make sure that when we put forward our framework, that all areas, all regions of Canada have an opportunity to participate.

Question: What do you have to say to the critics who suggest that this is more of an industry policy and not really environmental and (inaudible)?

Rona Ambrose: Sure, I would be happy to. There is a reason why the prime minister has asked the department of environment to lead these discussions. We talked about this during our meeting. If it was just looked at from an environment perspective or just looked at from an agricultural perspective or only looked at from an industry perspective, you would see three different frameworks emerging. We have got all of these key players to the table to ensure that as we move forward with industry incentives, an industrial framework, the producers have buy-ins and have opportunity to participate and then we are looking at leveraging the best possible technology for emission reduction.

If you look at green-based – green-based ethanol compared to cellulose-based ethanol, you are looking at almost double the amount of emission reduction. So as we move forward with our targets, as we move forward with R&D, we need to encourage the kind of technology that will see greater emission reductions.

Question: So environmentally speaking then, the Conservative government's position is that ethanol is the best way to proceed rather than reduction of (Inaudible) and that kind of thing?

Rona Ambrose: There is a number of different things we have done in terms of looking at this from an overall policy framework. You have seen we have made great – a huge investment in public transportation and that is going to be in cleaner, public transportation. We have made investments in transit passes to make sure people get out of their cars and huge that public transportation. For those people that need to drive cars, we want to make sure they are burning cleaner gasoline so that they reduce emissions. For the buses that we are going to invest in, we want to make sure that they are using biodiesel and ethanol.

So as we move forward, and Canada has a great capacity in terms of the technology development we have right here in our backyard. We have been behind our international counterparts and it is time that all of us take this challenge on and move Canada in the right direction so that we can participate on the world stage, not only competing economically, but competing environmentally.

Question: What sort of incentives actually are being envisaged to get to the 5% target by 2010? What sort of – are you talking about tax incentives, excise tax, those sorts of things?

Rona Ambrose: That is exactly the kind of incentives we are looking at and I will let you talk to Mr. Lunn a little bit more about some of the discussions that the Council of energy ministers has done over the last number of years and the work that they are going to do moving forward on this, but yes, that is the kind of things we are looking at.

Question: Are you concerned about the fact that there could – if the industry, the domestic industry is not gearing up to provide the ethanol or biodiesel or whatever it is that you are aiming to constitute for this target, that you could get a flood of American corn-based ethanol coming into this country. What are you going to do to prevent that from happening?

Rona Ambrose: That is – that is a clear issue that emerged from the meeting, as one of the challenges that we want to work on together, moving forward. One of the clear commitments that our government has made on this issue is that there will be producer involvement. That is one of the clear parameters that we have set out. There is an issue that was raised during the meeting about the competing with U.S. subsidies. I can assure you that Canada is looking at opportunities for incentives, for our own industry, but I think the other thing to recognize is in the U.S. right now, they don't even have enough supply for the ethanol that they are looking for. So there are also opportunities for the Canadian producers to take advantage of exporting as well.

Question: (Inaudible)

Rona Ambrose: Yes, I have spoken to Saskatchewan about that and I applaud, I applaud Saskatchewan for their ambitious, ambitious goals and we look forward to working with the Prairie provinces but again, this is – it has to be a framework that works for all regions. This is a great opportunity for economic development for all of Canada.

Question: So you are not...

Rona Ambrose: And as I said, we have areas in Canada that have increased capacity and that have come a long way compared to other areas of the country and this is a challenge that we face together. All of us as ministers have clearly stated a desire to work towards a national goal and to look at regions of the country that need support to institute a national framework.

Question: So what is the answer to the question? What is your commitment to 50% and more Western Canadian grain?

Rona Ambrose: We are committed to implementing a 5% biofuel content, a national strategy for Canada by 2010.

Question: Yes, I'm aware of that, but what is your commitment to (Inaudible)?

Question: Okay, you talked about producer involvement. I gather it obviously is encouraging discussion, but what sorts of things would you envision or ownership structures or incentives to encourage producer involvement? I know it is something that has been pushed by Saskatchewan.

Rona Ambrose: Yes, there is – well, I can assure you that the agricultural minister at the federal level and those agricultural ministers that are involved at the provincial level in this discussion have made that point very clear and there is a commitment not only from our prime minister, but from all of the departments at the table and all of the ministers at the table, that there has to be producer involvement. That is one of the parameters moving forward in terms of how projects will be assessed, how the framework will be functioning and we talked about new generation cooperatives, other ways to provide incentives for producers to participate and providing incentives for industry to work with, to work with producers to maximize their opportunity to participate in what is a new economy that is emerging.

Question: Apart from your commitment for the 5% target, what did you actually accomplish here today?

Rona Ambrose: Well, as I said, this is a historic meeting. This is the first meeting of ministers responsible for renewable fuels. We have looked at a number of different parameters. We have accomplished a lot by being here today, to show a clear commitment from the agricultural sector, from the environment sector and from energy, but the framework that emerges and the framework that we are working together will have really clear parameters. We have outlined those three parameters. The federal government has given very clear indication of where – the parameters we would like to work within with the ministers involved in this as we move forward and we will be coming back with concrete decisions in November when we reconvene over the summer.

As Mr. Serby has talked about, this is a very ambitious agenda and because there is a number of consultative bodies that are going to be looking at this framework from the energy side and industry side, from the agriculture side and also from the environment side, we are all bringing our perspectives through the process throughout the summer and then with clear decisions for the national standards and framework in November.

Question: Can you talk about (Inaudible)

Clay Serby: I think - can I just - I would like a chance at this too because I think what is important here is that there are four departments and four ministries, both provincially and federally that are needing to come together here to build the renewable fuel strategy for Canada. This is the first occasion where we have now the three ministers in the room, national ministers along with provincial ministers from across the land. What we decided today is the framework on which we are going to proceed with our consultations because in each area, there will - there will be all sorts of issues of which there will be expectation and demand, be it from the energy side, from the environment side, from the agricultural piece. Clearly we needed to know who is going to be leading the process and we are now sure. Minister Ambrose and her department will be leading the process.

Collectively, we have now set a timetable of which there will be extensive consultations across Canada, of which there will be involvement in each of the provinces by each of the department and the ministries are involved. There will be federal / provincial meetings of each of the departments over the next three months or four months. Then coming together as a renewable energy ministers back in November or in November, then to set the framework or the template about going forward; in that template will be all the issues that were talked about today, about the mandate. It will be about the ownership, it will be about the feedstock, it will be about the research and development that will be required for Canada and it will be about the financial incentive package that needs to be put into place at the federal level in order for renewable fuel to be competitive with all of those nations which we will be competing with. So that is what this meeting was about today.

Question: Sorry, I didn't hear the commitment that you said was the most important one for you, which was to get 50% of more of western Canadian feedstock (inaudible) in ethanol?

Clay Serby: Well, I think that is a fair question and our discussions are not over, Stephanie. Our discussions are just beginning. This is the very first day of a process of which we have an agreement on today. I hear the federal government saying very clearly again today that they are committed to the 5% mandate. I expect that I would not be speaking out of turn by saying that there are other provinces besides Saskatchewan that will be of the view that there needs to be some generosity added to the 5% and so that debate will continue forward. We know that we can meet a 5% mandate for Canada. We don't have much concern about that in our province, but there is - I think it would be fair to say there is some interpretation about whether or not we should be setting a target that we might not be able to achieve in the timeframe that is in place. I have less concern about that and you can rest assured that there will be additional conversations going forward with our federal ministers about what we think the mandate should actually ramp up to by the time we get to 2010.

Question: Madame Ambrose...

Rona Ambrose: Oui.

Question: ...une question en français s'il vous plaît. Est-ce que vous pouvez me dire comment vous comptez (inaudible)?

Rona Ambrose: The question was how are we going to ensure that the industry producers...

Question: (Inaudible)

Rona Ambrose: If you don't mind, a lot of the technical words are new to me, so I'm going to - I will answer your question in English. You are asking about how we will ensure that industry participates in the 5%. We have no concerns from my colleague Gary - minister Lunn's consultations with industry that they are ready to participate in this. I know that in Alberta in particular, we have the highest percentage of renewable energy across Canada and there has been no push back in terms of developing that kind of energy and that of course is in the backyard of large oil industry.

So I think we have a great deal of not only public support for this, we have a great deal of political will as you see here today and you have a commitment from our prime minister who wants to see action and result on this file and which is why we started this process three months ago immediately of bringing this group together for the first time in Canada, to talk about the opportunities for industry, environment and agriculture to work together on a national framework, to make sure that we ensure that as we move forward with implementing our 5% target by 2010, that there is producer involvement, that there is environmental, direct environmental benefits in terms of reducing emissions and that industry can also participate. Thank you.