Canadian Enviromnent Week

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Jun 01 (MARKET WIRE) --
Canada's Environment Minister and Minister responsible for Parks Canada,
Jim Prentice, launched this year's Canadian Environment Week (May 31 -
June 6) by reiterating the Government's commitment to protecting and
preserving Canada's environment.

"Canadians are blessed with a rich natural heritage that inspires and
helps defines the image of our country. Canadian Environment Week is an
opportunity to focus on our impact on our environment, our communities
and the quality of life that we treasure here in Canada.

"This is an important year for our environment as we move towards
negotiating a post-Kyoto climate change agreement. I am proud to say that
our Government is making progress on a number of fronts. Our tailored
blueprint for protecting Canada's environment and fighting climate change
has us on course to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 20
percent by 2020 and by 60 to 70 percent by 2050. This combined with our
plans to regulate vehicle emissions and to control industrial emissions
will bring about a marked improvement in Canada's emissions record.
Additionally, the Government is meeting with its counterparts to build
national, continental and international strategies leading to the UN
Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, December 2009.

"Our Economic Action Plan includes almost $2.4 billion in new measures
that will support a cleaner, more sustainable environment and will
further Canada's climate change objectives. We also recently tabled a new
environmental enforcement bill, and launched a vehicle scrappage program.
"Our Government is working hard to protect and preserve our rich and vast
ecological landscapes. To date, over 100 million hectares of land,
roughly 10 per cent of Canada's land mass, and three million hectares of
ocean waters have been protected.

"Our northern haven of rich natural resources is an incredible legacy and
a huge responsibility for us all. Our Government shares with all
Canadians a determination to safeguard our environment for generations to
come."

(Egalement disponible en francais)

Contacts:
Office of the Minister of the Environment
Frederic Baril
Press Secretary
819-997-1441

Environment Canada
Media Relations
819-934-8008
1-888-908-8008
www.ec.gc.ca

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