Winnipeg, Manitoba
March 3, 2007

Thank you very much for hosting us in this great green institution -- green, despite winning the Brownie Award!

I am pleased to be here to tell you more about these exciting initiatives. I'm also very pleased to be here with three friends, my colleagues Steven Fletcher and Joy Smith, who I work closely with in Ottawa, and of course, my good friend, Premier Gary Doer of Manitoba.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

I'm pleased to be here in Manitoba, to participate in today's ecoTrust announcement -- the second of 13 ecoTrust announcements that we will make across the country.  

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the Canada ecoTrust last month in Sherbrooke, Quebec, he said it was essential for the federal government to work hand-in-hand with our provincial partners to address climate changes that Canada is faced with -- the big challenge of climate change.

I believe he's right.

As a country, we can make far greater progress by working together and sharing responsibility for finding solutions.

That's why I am very pleased to announce today that Canada's New Government intends to give Manitoba $53.8 million as part of its share of the $1.5 billion ecoTrust announcement. This will help fight climate change and will help Canada meet its Kyoto commitments.

This funding will be contained in our upcoming budget and is a part of the new actions to be taken to address the fiscal imbalance. It will be available as soon as Parliament authorizes its spending.

Because each province has its own energy profile and its own priorities, the funding comes with only one proviso -- that it be used for projects designed to tackle head-on and address greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

Manitoba's funding under the Canada ecoTrust will support projects that are consistent with the Government of Manitoba's climate change action plan.

The government of Manitoba has already indicated that it will use the funding to move forward on a number of important projects. To name just a few, these include:

• increasing Manitoba's portfolio of renewable energy to include solar power and bio-gas; and
• dedicating part of the fund to Manitoba's portion of an East-West Power Grid.

That's something with which I go back a long way, to when I was Ontario's Minister of Energy, trying to tap this guy to keep the lights on in the province of Ontario with clean power, so I'm particularly excited that part of the announcement today involves that initiative.

When combined with existing and new provincial initiatives, the funding will help Manitoba reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by two megatonnes, roughly the equivalent of removing 500,000 cars from the road.

That's quite a significant reduction. And it is precisely why the Canada ecoTrust will play such a pivotal role in our efforts to address climate change.

Today's announcement recognizes Manitoba's leadership in this area, and provides support for measurable progress that will benefit not just people in Manitoba, but will benefit all Canadians, here and across the country.

Real results, real, measurable reductions, are what the people of Manitoba and what all Canadians are looking for.

And that's exactly what we are here to deliver.

Thank you.