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."
+ More
New at the Environment
Museum: The Biosphère Presents Two
Green Roofs and a Model Conservation Garden
MONTRÉAL, Que.
-- October 14, 2010 -- As part of its 15th
anniversary celebrations, the Biosphère
has installed two green roofs and created
an indoor garden that reproduces three Canadian
ecosystems. Visit the Biosphère to
see these additions and to learn more about
the environment and technologies for green
housing.
The green roofs show
how the installation of planted roofs can
benefit urban environments by helping to
counter heat islands, dampen noise, boost
energy efficiency, and purify the air and
water. Two types of green roofs--extensive
and intensive--are demonstrated. The Biosphère
roofs enable people who want to acquire
this technology to learn about the options
available to them. The new roofs cover 242
m2 and are visible from the museum lookout.
In addition, the Biosphère
has redesigned its indoor garden as a conservation
area for plants. The plants in the garden
are all indigenous to North America, and
some of them are vulnerable or threatened
in Quebec. Various interpretive components,
such as a game for identifying ecological
gardening allies, are part of the garden
tour and promote awareness about the functioning
of various natural ecosystems and the importance
of conserving them.
The Biosphère
was already considered a green building
when it was built in 1995. Its new roofs
add to its existing green technologies,
which include two wind turbines, a geothermal
heating system, wetlands for wastewater
treatment and solar panels (the Ecoological
Solar House).
As an environment museum,
Environment Canada's Biosphère is
mandated to encourage everyone to take action
and get involved in environmental issues.
In addition to presenting exhibits and special
events, the Biosphère develops educational
and awareness-raising products for diverse
clienteles across Canada and is a recognized
clearinghouse for environmental information.
