Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable committee members.
I'm here today on behalf of the Green Budget Coalition, which is unique in bringing together 20 of Canada's most respected conservation and environmental organizations, representing over 600,000 Canadians, including groups you would know, such as Ducks Unlimited, Nature Canada, Équiterre, the David Suzuki Foundation, and the Pembina Institute.
We have been working cooperatively since 1999 to assist the federal government to develop and implement strategic budgetary and fiscal measures that are critical to long-term environmental sustainability, and our efforts were acknowledged in an annex to the 2005 federal budget.
I want to outline today three prime tax and spending measures, each of which is pivotal for ensuring prosperity and a sustainable future for Canadians and each of which could be advanced substantially in the 2010 budget: first, protecting Canada's biodiversity and ecosystems nationwide in the face of dangerous climate change; second, investing in Canada's freshwater future, beginning with the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin; and third, creating clean energy jobs by renewing Canada's commitment to renewable power.
I also want to highlight the ongoing importance of implementing fair fiscal policies to ensure that market prices truly represent the environmental costs and benefits of economic activity.
Canada continues to lose elements of its terrestrial and marine ecosystems due to many types of human activities. Furthermore, Canada has not fully met its commitments under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity on which Canada and all signatories will be reporting in 2010. Preserving our quality of life in the face of dangerous climate change and meeting our international commitments requires an immediate commitment to protecting ecosystems and biodiversity. The Green Budget Coalition recommends funding and implementing a national ecosystems-based adaptation strategy to protect Canada's biodiversity nationwide in terrestrial and marine environments, including national parks, national wildlife areas, ocean management areas, and the greenhouse gas reservoirs of our natural forests and wetlands.
Secondly, fresh water is also central to the health of Canadians and our economy, and federal leadership is crucial in protecting Canada's freshwater resources. The coalition was very pleased that the federal government committed to a new water strategy in the 2007 Speech from the Throne. To deliver this strategy, Canada should begin with priority investments in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin, as outlined in our brief around water quantity and quality. Such investments will ensure a clean, healthy source of drinking water for millions of Canadians and facilitate a healthy, growing economy and business climate for area residents.
As Mr. Weis detailed earlier, 2010 is also an important time for the Government of Canada to renew its support for renewable power to create thousands of clean energy jobs, to enable Canada to meet its target of 90% of Canada's electricity coming from non-emitting sources by 2020, and to create new economic development opportunities. Priorities should be put on renewing and expanding the important ecoENERGY for Renewable Power program and establishing green energy bonds, as well as developing a national geothermal data and classification system.
At the same time, it's critical to put in place other key frameworks that are necessary for the transformation of Canada's economy, to be globally leading and environmentally restorative, one where economic success and environmental health are mutually supportive rather than working against each other. To achieve this, we need to implement comprehensive fiscal changes to ensure that market prices tell the environmental truth by accurately and fairly representing the true value of non-renewable resources and the costs of pollution to the environment and to human health. Business leaders and environmental protection and energy efficiency should benefit from competitive advantages rather than paying additional costs, just as individuals making changes to their day-to-day lives should not have to pay more to make an environmental choice.
In conclusion, I urge you all to recommend to the finance minister and to your respective parties that budget 2010 invest in renewable energy, in ecosystems and biodiversity, and in water and watersheds, and that it support structural changes to make market prices tell the environmental truth. These measures will create long-term benefits for all Canadians.
We will be sending you a package of more detailed recommendations on all these issues in the coming week, and we look forward to meeting with each of you individually to discuss them further.
Thank you.