GIMLI, MB - April 2, 2007
–James Bezan, Member of Parliament for Selkirk-Interlake,
on behalf of the Honourable John Baird,
Minister of the,Environment announced today
that Environment Canada will provide $450,000
in funding over three years to the Lake
Winnipeg Research Consortium.
The funding will be used by the Consortium
to facilitate and coordinate collaborative
research and monitoring activities to learn
more about the processes that are critical
to the health of Lake Winnipeg. The funds
will also be used to support the vessel
MV Namao in research and educational activities,
and to establish an electronic archive of
scientific data and information about the
lake.
“The work of the Lake Winnipeg Research
Consortium supports our commitment to clean
up important watersheds, and protect the
health of Canadians. This funding will help
focus federal efforts on Lake Winnipeg and
is a significant contribution to a larger
basin initiative that will provide a model
for how the federal government can support
watershed management in the Lake Winnipeg
Basin,” said Mr. Bezan.
Mr. Bezan was joined for the announcement,
held aboard the MV Namao in Gimli, by Dr.
Al Kristofferson, Managing Director of the
Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium.
“This funding announcement from the Government
of Canada is excellent news. The multi-year
nature of this commitment will allow us
to extend our research plans into the future,
thereby eliminating the need to work on
a year-by-year basis. We are very pleased
with this. It is a very important step forward
to help us further understand this Great
Lake of ours,” said Dr. Kristofferson.
In Budget 2007, Canada’s New Government
committed $93 million to support a comprehensive
National Water Strategy that will ensure
clean and safe water for Canadians. This
strategy sets the direction for a concrete
action plan that will improve the quality
of drinking water, clean up polluted waters,
and protect ecosystems.
Eric Richer / Press Secretary / Office of
the Minister of the Environment
Canada 's New Government supports clean
air and energy efficiency projects in Saskatchewan
REGINA, Saskatchewan, April 5, 2007–Canada
’s Minister of the Environment, John Baird
and Saskatchewan Environment Minister John
Nilson today announced $44.4 million in
funding for Saskatchewan as part of a trust
fund set up by Canada’s New Government to
support provincial and territorial projects
to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and air pollutants. The $1.5 billion trust
fund for clean air and climate change is
part of the Government’s recent $4.5 billion
budget commitment to make real progress
on important environmental issues.
“Canada’s New Government is committed to
achieving concrete results in the reduction
of greenhouse gases and air pollution,”
said Minister Baird. “We’ve demonstrated
that in our budget announcements, and we’re
demonstrating it again today. We know that
reducing emissions requires a collaborative
effort. ,In supporting Saskatchewan’s efforts,
we can work together to find real solutions
to Canada’s environmental challenges.”
“One of the cornerstones of our Government
is to advance Saskatchewanas a leader in
environmental protection and the green economy,”
Saskatchewan Environment Minister John Nilson
said. “This funding will reduce emissions,
support the province’s long-term goal of
deriving one-third of all energy from renewable
sources and enable progress on several important
projects within an overall Green Strategy.”
Saskatchewan has indicated that it will
use its funding to support several provincial
projects, which may include:
Continuing development of near zero CO2
emission electrical generation projects.
Implementing measures to improve energy
efficiency and conservation, including promotion
and support for energy reduction by home
owners, businesses, farms and communities.
Development and utilization of renewable
and alternative energy sources such as bio-fuels
and solar energy technologies.
Continuing to lead efforts in carbon capture
and sequestration through the International
Test Centre for Carbon Dioxide Capture.
Canada’s New Government is already delivering
on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
and air pollution by taking tangible steps
with initiatives in the energy and transportation
sectors such as ecoEnergy and ecoTransport,
and by committing to implement aggressive
regulations to reduce emissions in all sectors.
The provincial and territorial initiatives
supported byCanada’s New Government’s trust
fund for clean air and climate change will
complement those efforts.
As announced, resources for the trust will
consist of $1.5 billion of new funding on
a national basis. This funding is a part
of the actions being taken by Canada’s New
Government to build a stronger, safer, better
Canada.
For more information about the Federal
Government’s environmental initiatives,
please visit: http://www.ecoaction.gc.ca
For further information on Saskatchewan’s
environmental issues and programs, please
visit: http://www.gov.sk.ca/priorities/environment
Eric Richer / Press Secretary
+ More
Canada's New Government Celebrates Milestone
in the Reduction of Greenhouse Gases in
Hospitals
OTTAWA, April 2, 2007 –The Honourable John
Baird, Minister of the Environment, joined
Vicky Sharpe, CEO of Sustainable Development
Technology Canada, Dusanka Filipovic, CEO
of Blue-Zone Technologies and Michel Bilodeau,
President and CEO of the Children’s Hospital
of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) to celebrate the
installation of Blue-Zone Ltd.’s patented
DeltaTM technology in all of CHEO’s operating
rooms.
Blue-Zone Ltd. has developed an innovative
technology to capture, reclaim, and purify
halogenated inhalation anaesthetic gases
used in hospital operating rooms. These
are very aggressive greenhouse gases, and
some have global warming potential up to
1,900 times that of carbon dioxide. Most
of these gases escape into the atmosphere
during medical application. Blue-Zone’s
technology can capture the vented gases
and extend the life cycle of the anaesthetic
gases by ten to twenty times. In future,
this technology could enable hospitals to
achieve significant savings in their expenditures
on anaesthetic gases as well as preventing
the release of harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
“Canada’s New Government is taking concrete
and realistic actions to reduce harmful
greenhouse gas emissions,” said Minister
Baird. “This project is an example of the
great strides that we can make by investing
in sustainable, clean technologies to tackle
climate change and air pollution.”
This $8.1 million project was made possible
through the combined contributions of partners
from both public and private sectors. Sustainable
Development Technology Canada, invested
$2.7 million in the project, as part of
its mandate to build a sustainable development
infrastructure in Canada. Sustainable Development
Technology Canada is a foundation created
by the Government of Canada that operates
a $550 million fund to support the development
and demonstration of clean technologies
-- solutions that address issues of clean
air, climate change, clean water, and clean
soil to deliver environmental, economic
and health benefits to Canadians.
“Today is an example of how investing in
the development of sustainable, green technology
gets results,” said Minister Baird. “Canada’s
New Government isfocused on the long-term
needs of Canadians and on investing where
Canada can become a global leader in next
generation technologies. That is why, in
Budget 2007, this Government announced $500
million in additional funding to Sustainable
Development Technology Canada to support
private sector production of the next generation
renewable fuels.”
Eric Richer / Press Secretary / Office of
the Minister of the Environment
