Archived: Departmental Performance Report 2013-14, Environment Canada, chapter 2

As Minister of the Environment, I am pleased to present the 2013-14 Departmental Performance Report. This report outlines Environment Canada's progress in addressing the priorities and commitments set out in the 2013-14 Report on Plans and Priorities.

On the topic of conservation and biodiversity issues, we have made significant progress. As of March 31, 2014 Environment Canada has proposed or finalized recovery documents (recovery strategies and management plans) for 146 species under the Species at Risk Act.

Moreover, earlier this year, the government launched the National Conservation Plan (NCP), which will provide a more coordinated approach to conservation efforts across the country with an emphasis on enabling Canadians to conserve and restore lands and waters in and around their communities, and making it easier for citizens living in cities to connect with nature.

The NCP will include significant additional investments over five years to secure ecologically sensitive lands, support voluntary conservation and restoration actions, and strengthen marine and coastal conservation. In addition, it will contain new initiatives designed to restore wetlands and to encourage Canadians to connect with nature close to home through protected areas and green spaces located in or near urban areas.

We continued to make progress in advancing the clean air agenda. Domestically, our approach to reducing greenhouse gases has seen the introduction of new rules to improve fuel efficiency from new on-road heavy-duty vehicles and engines. Working with the provinces and territories, we put in place new, more stringent standards for ambient air quality.

While in New York to participate in a series of international climate change meetings leading up to and including the UN Climate Summit, we announced several bold, new regulatory initiatives showcasing our commitment to address climate change while keeping the Canadian economy strong; including three regulatory initiatives for greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions reductions from cars and trucks, and Canada’s intention to address potent domestic hydrofluorocarbon emissions.

Internationally, we contributed to the development of practical and collaborative initiatives, through the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and short-lived climate pollutants. We participated in trade and environmental negotiations, which resulted in the conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union. We also signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury in an effort to better protect human health and the environment from human sources of emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.

Actions carried out to deliver on the Chemicals Management Plan included twenty research projects that address priority substances. We remain on track to meet our international commitment for the management of 4,200 chemicals in Canada by 2020.

Throughout the year, we provided Canadians with weather forecasts and warnings of severe weather and provided immediate response and support to the Lac-Mégantic railway disaster through weather forecasting, water sampling and air and smoke dispersion modelling.

On water issues, we worked collaboratively with partners to protect ecosystems, made significant investments in cleaning up contaminated sites, and invested in restoring the ecological health of Lake Simcoe and South-eastern Georgian Bay, and Lake Winnipeg.

Environment Canada continued to expand its monitoring efforts in the oil sands region and delivered on its commitment to increase transparency and improve accessibility of monitoring results and data on the departmental website and Government of Canada data portal.

The year also saw the tabling of the second Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (2013-16), which further advanced our commitment to making environmental decision making more transparent and accountable.

I invite you to read the report for details of these and many more activities undertaken to ensure a clean, safe and sustainable environment for today and for generations to come.

 

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The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, P.C., M.P.
Minister of the Environment