OTTAWA, October 2, 2012 — Today, following the conclusion of the 2012 Critical Infrastructure Summit, the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, commended the work being done to strengthen the resilience of Canada’s critical infrastructure.
The Summit, which was co-hosted by the Canadian Gas Association and the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, brought together a diverse audience of senior critical infrastructure stakeholders from the private and public sectors to discuss the way forward to strengthen Canada’s critical infrastructure.
“I would like to extend my thanks to the organizers for bringing together this diverse group of stakeholders to discuss the opportunities for continued improvement in the safety, protection and resilience of our critical infrastructure,” said Minister Toews. “This kind of collaboration is key to the ongoing security of our critical infrastructure, and so our Government is very proud to be a close partner with the provinces, territories and private sector. Rest assured, the Government of Canada will continue to work with our partners to protect our critical infrastructure from all threats.”
Canada’s critical infrastructure faces a diverse and evolving risk environment. The National Strategy and Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure, launched in 2010, is a demonstration of the Government’s commitment to work with the private sector to address these risks. Since that launch, Public Safety Canada has set out processes for its public-private sector partners to mitigate risks and threats and conducted exercises to ensure that the department and its partners can respond and recover quickly in the event of a disruption.
“Natural gas distribution and transmission companies have a long history of engaging with all levels of government and with regulatory bodies in forums like this Summit,” said Timothy M. Egan, President of the Canadian Gas Association. “They provide occasions for us to: stay abreast of safety standards and regulations, share industry best practices, and to learn more about up-to-date engineering principles and modern technology. All of this helps us with the ongoing task of building, operating, and maintaining Canada’s natural gas delivery network – one that over 6.3 million customers depend upon every day.”
“This is an important opportunity for many sectors of the economy and government to come together and discuss a very important issue - the protection of critical infrastructure in Canada,” said Brenda Kenny, President and CEO of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association. “Despite an excellent safety record in our industry, there is always room for improvement. Our members are striving to reach a goal of zero incidents and they welcome the opportunity to learn more and improve our safety practices. This summit is one of the ways in which we can do that and ultimately, we will all benefit from further discussion and sharing of best practices.”
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Information:
Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657
Julie Carmichael
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Public Safety
613-991-2924
