Environment week 2001
Our Record of Achievement

June 4, 2001

Protecting the environment is not an option, it is something we must do. Because clean air and water are essential to our health and our quality of life. And our green spaces and diverse habitat and species are part of the heritage we must leave for future generations.

With forward-looking investments and innovative strategies, our government is working to preserve Canada’s birthright of a clean and safe environment. Here is a short selection of our achievements:

In 2001, we signed and ratified a United Nations Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), and committed $20 million over the next five years to projects that will help developing countries to reduce or eliminate the release of POPs (such as DDT and PCBs).

In 2001, we established the Sustainable Development Technology Fund. It provides $100 million for the development of innovative technologies that address climate change and air quality issues.

We are strengthening the science of clean air through the provision of $60 million to create the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences. And we will invest $120.2 million in new measures to accelerate action on clean air.

We are reducing sulphur in gasoline to 150 parts per million (ppm) by 2002 and 30 ppm by the end of 2004. We estimate that this will avoid more than 2000 premature deaths, 93,000 cases of bronchitis in children and 11 million incidents of respiratory problems such as asthma attacks over the next 20 years.

We provided $25 million to create the Green Municipal Enabling Fund and $100 million to create the Green Municipal Investment Fund, to increase the environmental efficiency and cost-effectiveness of existing municipal water, wastewater, waste, energy and public transportation facilities.

We have announced a strategy to prohibit bulk removal of water from major Canadian drainage basins, and we reintroduced amendments to the International Boundary Waters Treaty Act to prohibit the bulk removal of water from Canadian boundary waters, including the Great Lakes.

We will invest $2.65 billion over six years in a new green municipal infrastructure program. Investments in Green Infrastructure projects focusing on clean air, clean water and waste water will be the first priority in the new program.

In 2000, we unveiled Canada’s Action Plan on Climate Change. This $500 million package contains more than 50 measures covering all sectors of the economy, more than half of which will also improve air quality across Canada.

We are investing $625 million over five years for innovative measures to address climate change. Initiatives include promoting technological innovation; enhancing climate and atmospheric research; and helping developing countries.

Our natural heritage

We introduced Bill C-5, the Species at Risk Act (SARA), which contains mechanisms for protecting species at risk and their habitats in Canada. And we committed $180 million to implement the National Strategy for the Protection of Species at Risk.

We introduced the Ecological Gifts Program, which promotes the government's stewardship, species at risk and protected areas objectives. The program offers increased tax assistance to donors of ecologically sensitive land. Thirty-one donations were made in 2000, totalling $2.5 million and protecting 3800 acres.

We created the Habitat Stewardship Fund, which implements conservation agreements with non-government organizations, private land-owners, conservation groups and local governments. To date, approximately $1.9 million has been committed to 15 major projects to protect habitat.