DECEMBER 12, OTTAWA — In a joint statement released today, 27 prominent Canadian CEOs and civil society leaders congratulated Canada's Prime Minister and Premiers for achieving a Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. The historic plan was announced following the First Ministers' Meeting last Friday.
The leaders behind the joint statement are members of the Smart Prosperity Leaders' nitiative and represent diverse sectors and constituencies across the country, including Loblaw, RBC, Shell Canada, United Steelworkers, World Wildlife Fund Canada, and Aluminum Association of Canada, among others.
Their statement reads:
We congratulate the Prime Minister and Premiers on achieving a national plan to drive clean growth and make real progress on climate change. This plan includes the key elements needed to do so, including a rising price on carbon, world class standards for clean power and energy efficiency, major investments in clean infrastructure like buildings, transportation and energy systems, and strong support for clean innovation and technology.
The shift to a high performance, low carbon economy is underway across Canada and around the world, and it offers tremendous opportunity for all parts of the economy. This kind of coordinated government leadership is critical to accelerate our progress and help us keep pace with global leaders, by catalyzing private initiative and innovation across the country.
This plan sets the right direction. The next challenge is to turn these commitments into action. This will require smart policy design and effective implementation -- to enable Canada to meet its global climate commitments and boost clean growth across the economy, while helping vulnerable populations to adjust and businesses to be globally competitive.
We offer our full support in helping Canada to seize this critical economic and environmental opportunity, and we commit to lead by example in our own organizations and networks.
Sincerely,
| Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director, McKinsey and Company |
| Ross Beaty, Chairman, Pan American Silver Corp; Executive Chairman, Alterra Power Corp |
| Guy Cormier, President and CEO, Desjardins Group |
| John Coyne, Vice-President, Legal and External Affairs, Unilever Canada Inc. |
| Michael Crothers, President and Canada Country Chair, Shell Canada |
| Arlene Dickinson, CEO, Venture Communications |
| Stewart Elgie, Professor, University of Ottawa; co-Chair, Smart Prosperity |
| Phil Fontaine, Former National Chief, Assembly of First Nations |
| Robert Hardt, President and CEO, Siemens Canada |
| Jean-Francois Huc, President and CEO, BioAmber |
| Greg Kiessling, President, UpCapital Ltd. |
| Jim Lopez, President and CEO, Tembec |
| John Lounds, President and CEO, Nature Conservancy of Canada |
| David Miller, President and CEO, WWF - Canada; Former Mayor, City of Toronto |
| Lorraine Mitchelmore, co-Chair, Smart Prosperity; former President, Canada Country Chair, Shell Canada |
| Ken Neumann, Canadian National Director, United Steelworkers |
| Merrell-Ann Phare, Founding Executive Director, Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources |
| Vicky Sharpe, Founding President and CEO, Sustainable Development Technology Canada |
| Jean Simard, President, Aluminum Association of Canada; co-Founder and Director, SWITCH |
| Merran Smith, Executive Director, Clean Energy Canada |
| Rick Smith, Executive Director, Broadbent Institute |
| John Stackhouse, Senior Vice-President, Office of the CEO, Royal Bank of Canada |
| Kali Taylor, Founding Executive Director, Student Energy |
| Annette Verschuren, Chair and CEO, NRStor; co-Chair, Smart Prosperity |
| Robert Wesseling, President and CEO, The Co-operators |
| Galen Weston, President and Executive Chairman, Loblaw Companies Ltd. |
| Ed Whittingham, Executive Director, Pembina Institute |
The Smart Prosperity Initiative was launched by respected Canadian leaders from business, think tanks, labour, Indigenous Peoples, youth, and NGO communities. Our purpose: To harness new thinking to accelerate Canada's transition to a stronger, cleaner economy. www.smartprosperity.ca
