PM and Saskatchewan Premier announce major carbon capture and storage project

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Thank you very much. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. First of all, it's wonderful to be here in Estevan. It's great to be back in the riding of Souris-Moose Mountain and to be introduced by one of our finest Members of Parliament, Ed Komarnicki. Ed, as you all know, is doing outstanding work as your Member of Parliament and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, so please give him a hand. Thanks also to Pat Youzwa and the Sask Power staff here at the Boundary Dam power station for the tour and for hosting us this morning.

Greetings also to my several colleagues who are with us, to Andrew, to Dave, and of course to Rob - we are all delighted to have you with us and looking forward to introducing Rob in the House of Commons next Monday. That'll be a great day. It's great to see Roy Bailey, the seven-year MP for Souris-Moose Mountain here again. Delighted you could be with us. You look the same as always, so obviously retirement's treating you well. I'd like to acknowledge as well Minister Gary Lunn whose hard work set the stage for today's announcement. It's of course also a pleasure to have all kinds of local dignitaries. Your worships, Members of the Legislature and of course, warm greetings to your Premier, Brad Wall.

It's great to be back in Saskatchewan, the fast-rising star of the new West, and to be sharing the stage with Brad once again. Just two months ago we met in Prince Albert. There we announced the Saskatchewan component of the Community Development Trust. This trust helps support provincial programs, aiding workers and communities who have lost jobs as a result of volatility in global markets, which is obviously not this part of the province, but in some other parts of the province. Since then our two governments have finalized a number of agreements. These will improve public safety by providing support to recruit, for example, over 100 new police officers to municipal police forces across this province. They will boost training and skills development to meet the province's rapidly growing demand for skilled labour, and they will specifically expand employment training and opportunities to assist Aboriginal peoples to get good jobs in the booming resource sectors.

These agreements reflect our government's commitment to the federalism, an approach to federal-provincial relations that relies on respect for jurisdiction and productive collaboration with other levels of government. The positive working relationship between Ottawa and Saskatchewan is an example of the success of this approach in getting things done for Canadians. In fact, that's why Premier Wall and I are here again together today. Both our governments are committed to balancing economic growth and environmental protection. It's an important issue here in Saskatchewan because the province is a growing prairie powerhouse of energy and resource production. 2007 was a banner year. 2008 will be a banner year again for mineral exploration in this province. Uranium, potash and other Saskatchewan resources are in high demand all over the world. There are major new prospects for oil sands development in the Northwest and for light oil production in the Southeast. These are truly exciting times for the province with an exciting new government, but we want to ensure that these economic opportunities are balanced with our environmental responsibilities.

This has been a guiding principle for our government since we took office two years ago. It inspired our chemicals management plan, a plan that makes Canada a world leader in the regulation of potentially toxic substances that we encounter regularly in our homes and workplaces. It inspired our EcoEnergy program, which provides incentives to improve energy efficiency and to develop alternative renewable energy sources.

That inspired EcoTrust, through which the federal government supports provincial efforts throughout the country to combat climate change and air pollution.

And it inspired Turning the Corner, our plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in all major industrial sectors. Turning the Corner sets an ambitious goal, an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 20 percent by the year 2020. For the first time in Canadian history, we are imposing mandatory emissions reductions on large industry. Going forward, this will be one of the most stringent regulatory regimes in the world. Earlier this month Minister John Baird announced additional details about how we'll move forward. These include plans for the creation of a carbon emission trading market, and special tough standards for the oil sands and electricity sectors, two of Canada's largest emitters. We are effectively banning the construction of new dirty coal plants, and we're effectively requiring new oil sands projects to implement carbon capture and storage technology.

This new technology, carbon capture and storage, is the subject of today's announcement. When fully commercialized, it will collect carbon dioxide emissions from oil sands operations and coal-fired electrical plants, and seal them deep underground. Proving this technology on a commercial scale is key to reducing Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, according to the carbon capture and storage taskforce, between one third and one half of Canada's projected greenhouse gas emissions could potentially be stored underground by 2050. This technology would make Canada a world leader in clean energy production and make our energy products all the more attractive in an increasingly carbon-conscious global marketplace. When that day comes, we'll be able to say it all began right here in Saskatchewan. The Weyburn-Midale CO2 demonstration project not far from here is already the world's largest experiment in carbon storage.

That's why we are providing financial support for a partnership with the government of Saskatchewan and Sask Power, to support a commercial-scale demonstration project right here in Estevan at the Boundary Dam power station. It will be one of the first and largest carbon capture and storage demonstration projects in the world. Boundary Dam is an ideal candidate. It has served Saskatchewan well for decades, but its emission controls were designed for an earlier age. By combining state of the art carbon capture technology with enhanced oil recovery and carbon sequestration, the Boundary Dam project, once it is up and running, will reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by a million tonnes a year while generating up to a hundred megawatts of clean power. Carbon capture and storage technology, combined with our dynamic energy sector, has the potential to make this country a green energy superpower. Not only could it drastically reduce our emissions, but by exporting it to other countries around the world, we could also make a major contribution to the reduction of global emissions.

Ladies and gentlemen, as I've said before, the era of empty rhetoric on the environment is over. We are taking real action to produce real, tangible results and to make Canada a world leader in actually reducing greenhouse gases. As a government, we are committed to a cleaner, healthier environment for all Canadians, just as we are committed to a strong economy that will balance our standard of living and our quality of life for future generations. Thank you.

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