Speaking Points

The Honourable Tony Clement, PC, MP
Minister of Industry

Water Technologies, Renewable Energy and Environmental Control Exhibition and Conference

Tel Aviv, Israel
November 17, 2009

Check Against Delivery

Thank you.

Let me first of all say how delighted I am to be here in Israel. This is my first visit to your beautiful country, but after experiencing the warmth of your welcome, I certainly hope it won’t be my last!

I also want to add my own words of appreciation to the organizers of this conference. I had the opportunity to meet with Booky Oren earlier this morning, and I told him how impressed I was with the quality of the program and the breadth of the technologies represented.

Congratulations to all involved.

It’s also a great pleasure to share this session with such an impressive group of speakers. I look forward to hearing their presentations.

Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin once said that “peace requires a world of new concepts,” and perhaps one of the most important new concepts shaping our world today is our relationship to the most basic element of life — water.

We live in a world where there is a growing demand for this increasingly scarce resource. Every single day, nearly two billion people around the world lack access to even a minimal amount of drinkable water. In 95 percent of developing countries, almost 70 percent of fresh water is used for agriculture. And as the world’s population rises — and climate change alters the distribution of water resources — the supply of potable water is likely to decrease.

Consequently, understanding — and addressing — the key issues facing the world’s water and ecological systems is not simply something we should do, it is something we must do. Indeed, I believe that water will be to this century what energy was to the last — a defining global issue that will touch every nation and affect every industry, requiring all of us to replace old habits with new approaches.

It is therefore critical that we all become engaged; that we share ideas and that we recognize our common interest in addressing this common challenge. The good news — as this conference makes clear — is that we are developing the tools and technology, the processes and the programs to turn this challenge into opportunity.

The water industry is already one of the three largest industries in the world, along with oil and gas and electricity. In fact, the global market for products and services in the water industry is more than $400 billion — and that’s expected to double every five or six years.

Between 2007 and 2016, some $64 billion will be spent on desalination plants alone. And another $25 billion will be spent on advanced water reuse over the same period. Countries and companies are stepping up to provide solutions — from engineering and construction to quality analysis and design.

For innovative companies, for farseeing countries, all of this spells opportunity.

Of course, there is still much to learn — and much to do.

Today, I want to share, very briefly, some of the efforts we are making in Canada. Now, I know that when most people think of Canada they think of a land of rivers, lakes and streams. And that’s certainly true. We are blessed with abundant natural resources, including water. In fact, while Canada has only seven percent of the world’s landmass, we have nine percent of the world’s renewable water.

But that statistic is a bit misleading. Almost 60 percent of Canada’s fresh water drains to the north, while 85 percent of the population lives within 300 kilometres of our southern border.

In other words, much of our water is not where it is needed most, in our most heavily populated areas. And even in areas where water is plentiful, there are rising problems with pollution. We also face periodic drought in some regions.

The fact is that Canada’s water supplies are neither limitless nor immune to the effects of our past or present choices. At the same time, water is fundamental to Canada’s economic prosperity, to our quality of life and to our relationship to our land.

It’s not surprising, then, that Canada boasts some of the most innovative water technology companies in the world. I’m pleased to recognize Nick Parker, co-founder and executive chairman of the Cleantech Group, who also spoke at the conference, and David London, of Associated Engineering in Toronto and western Canada. We also have representatives here from two of Canada’s universities: Gilles Patry from the University of Ottawa and Reyna Mercedes Salas Moreno from McMaster University. I also have with me Siobhan Coady, Member of Parliament for St. John’s South–Mount Pearl. Welcome to all of you.

Canada has also produced some of the leading experts in water management, including, of course, Dr. David Schindler, whose work has been widely used in formulating ecological management policy not only in Canada but also in the United States and Europe.

Like you, Canadians believe that the key to turning our water challenge into opportunity lies in innovation, in the ingenuity and imagination of our people. That science and technology are vital to stimulating productivity, competitiveness and growth.

That is why, in 2007, our government launched a comprehensive Science and Technology (S&T) Strategy that sets out a multi-year S&T agenda.

My department has the primary responsibility for implementing the Strategy, which identifies the environment as one of our key priorities — including, of course, the management of our water.

The purpose of the Strategy is to build a competitive advantage through innovation, science and technology. Creating an environment in which the best research is being done, where the best researchers want to come. Science can lead our way as we face the challenges of the 21st century. In Canada we want to transform innovative research into commercial products to the benefit of us all.

To achieve the objectives of our Strategy means we must develop highly skilled people, and we are doing so through substantial investments in our institutions of higher learning. It means developing a network of Centres of Excellence that connect outstanding research with industrial know-how and practical investment.

Today, Canada ranks first in the G7 in terms of higher education research and development expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product.

Building a competitive advantage through innovation, science and technology also means investing in world-leading equipment and facilities in our universities and research centres. The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) was created to do just that.

As an example, the CFI recently provided $6.5 million to the Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Ocean Sciences Centre to create new state-of-the-art facilities for the study of cold-water and deep-sea organisms and ecosystems.

This research will lead to new horizons for research on how organisms in the Arctic and North Atlantic respond to changes in their environment, including accelerated climate change, as well as to risks posed by infectious diseases and invasive organisms.

We have also created the Canadian Water Network, part of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence, to nurture national partnerships and communities of practice.

In collaboration with universities, government and industry, the Canadian Water Network has developed a variety of scientific projects and initiatives focused on key issues related to the provision of safe, clean water, including the protection of watersheds and ecosystems, the protection of public health, and the ensuring of a sustainable water infrastructure.

More recently, our government has directed substantial funding to large-scale water infrastructure projects as part of our intervention to stimulate economic activity. We have provided $2 billion in low-cost loans to municipalities so that they can upgrade housing infrastructure, including sewers and water lines.

These projects will provide immediate employment, spur innovative construction and design, and enable Canadians to be even better stewards of our water resources.

And to further encourage innovation, our National Research Council has introduced the Canadian Innovation Leader Certificate Program, which recognizes Canadian companies that develop and apply innovative technologies. Recently, Advanced Water Technologies, which specializes in water restoration, received this prestigious award.

Canada’s commitment to water management goes beyond our own domestic policies or home-grown companies. We also have extensive international experience in managing the largest cross-border, freshwater system in the world — the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River System.

Together with our American partners, we have created the International Joint Commission to help both countries manage these waters wisely and to protect them for future generations.

This experience has taught us the importance of cooperation, of taking a holistic approach. Of understanding that every part of the ecosystem — the air and the land, the lakes and streams, plant, animal and human life — all depend on one another.

In March of next year, our engagement on the international stage continues, as Canada hosts GLOBE 2010, North America’s premier sustainable business event. Every two years, thousands of professionals come to GLOBE to discover the most innovative environmental technologies and to discuss business-oriented solutions to the world’s environmental problems. And we hope many of you will join us in Vancouver for this conference.

As I close, let me again say how delighted I am to be here in Israel. This year marks the 60th anniversary of relations between Israel and Canada. Twelve years ago, we cemented the bonds of friendship with the ties of commerce through the Canada–Israel Free Trade Agreement. And I know that for all of the success stories under that Agreement so far, there are many more waiting to be written.

The Canada–Israel Free Trade Agreement opened doors, and we hope that this conference will help to open eyes — on both sides — to the possibilities for business between us.

Today, the world faces a growing crisis in the management of its water resources. But I am convinced that we can take this moment of crisis and capture the opportunity within. That we can find solutions to the challenges before us. And in doing so, create unimaginable opportunities — not only for economic growth but also for greater equity and peace around the world.

Thank you.