Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you John, for that generous introduction, and thank you to Premier Campbell and Ministers, federal and provincial, for joining us for today’s important announcement.
It’s great to be back in British Columbia, not least because it gives me a taste of what spring will be like when it arrives in Ottawa … in another couple of months.
This is our latest stop on a national tour that Ministers Baird and Lunn and I have undertaken in support of our government’s new Canada ecoTrust for Clean Air and Climate Change.
These trusts are designed to help all the provinces and territories finance projects that will advance the development of clean energy and directly reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
At every stop on the tour, we have enjoyed tremendous cooperation with our provincial partners.
The relationship of openness between Ottawa and the provinces that we promised in the last election is being demonstrated once again by that excellent collaboration on climate change and clean air.
We all agree that achieving the right balance between environmental protection and a healthy economy is the fundamental public policy challenge of our time.
All Canadians are concerned about the environment.
For far too long there’s been too much talk.
Too much posturing and empty rhetoric.
We are replacing that with practical action.
In Quebec, ecoTrust Canada will help support various initiatives by the Government of Quebec to reduce greenhouse gas missions by some 14 million tonnes by 2012.
In Ontario, the Trust Fund will help the province phase out its dirty coal-fired electrical plants and import clean hydro power from Manitoba.
Last week in Alberta, we announced that it will help fund the development of carbon capture and storage, an exciting new technology that takes CO2 out of the air and buries it deep underground.
Today, I am very pleased to announce that the Government of British Columbia will dedicate its share of the Trust Fund to environmental initiatives that will make real, measurable contributions to reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
These include: