MONTRÉAL, Que. -- October 15, 2010 -- Canada's Minister of the Environment, Jim Prentice, and Quebec's Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Pierre Arcand, today highlighted the strengthening of co-operative mechanisms between the two governments regarding four shared priority environmental issues.
"The progress that has been made in these important areas clearly shows that the environment is a shared priority on which both our governments have been steadily collaborating for several years," stated Mr. Prentice following a working meeting this morning in Montréal.
Both ministers also agreed to advance the following priority issues:
- A new Canada-Quebec agreement for the renewal of the St. Lawrence Plan in order to collaborate and coordinate efforts to conserve and enhance the St. Lawrence with a view to sustainable development, including the speedy finalization of a long-term framework agreement and development of a five-year action plan by the spring of 2011.
- Renewal of the Canada-Quebec agreement on environmental assessments, which emphasizes federal-provincial collaboration when environmental assessment processes are triggered. In the same file, the ministers announced the creation of a working group to optimize the use of federal-provincial co-operation mechanisms under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
- Creation, for environmental emergencies, of a working group with the mandate to identify possible approaches for federal-provincial co-operation. The objective is to best coordinate actions and improve services to the public and to industry in this area.
- Creation of a working group whose mandate will be to prepare a Canada-Québec collaboration protocol on matters related to climate change. The agreement seeks to harmonize both governments' actions in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector, among other areas, and to share the information and expertise needed to optimize each government's actions.
Ministers Arcand and Prentice also agreed on the importance of continuing to work together on the issue of municipal wastewater. "Before implementing new wastewater regulations," added Mr. Prentice, "our government is committed to sharing its proposed regulations with the Quebec government to present the changes made over the last few months."
For more information, please contact:
Pascale Boulay
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of the Environment
819-997-1441
Media Relations
Environment Canada
819-934-8008
1-888-908-8008
