Press Release

Government sustainable development strategy

MINISTER LINE BEAUCHAMP UNVEILS DRAFT STRATEGY AND ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION

Quebec City, October 2, 2007 — At a press conference held today, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks Line Beauchamp launched the Québec government’s draft Government Sustainable Development Strategy and announced the launch of a public consultation on-line and a parliamentary commission.

“By adopting the Sustainable Development Act, our government propelled Québec to the forefront as a leader in the field with other progressive governments. Now, we must articulate our approach on a project with even more concrete applications, as described in the Government Sustainable Development Strategy. The strategy is the framework of reference indicating in what direction the government wishes to go, what objectives it wishes to have and how it expects to reach its goals,” said the Minister.

By introducing the first version of the Government Sustainable Development Strategy and submitting it to an on-line public consultation and a parliamentary commission, the Québec government is implementing a key element of the Sustainable Development Act, adopted unanimously by the National Assembly in 2006.

All interested persons, entreprises and organizations are invited to participate as of today in the on-line consultation by submitting their reactions and comments on the draft strategy. Also, the National Assembly of Québec will be convening a number of socially representative groups shortly to participate in the parliamentary commission, which is to begin its work on October 17, 2007.

A rallying project

The government strategy has taken into consideration the concerns expressed in 2005 during the consultation tour held for the Québec Sustainable Development Plan and sets forth the following vision of sustainable development: “A society in which the citizens’ quality of life is and remains a reality. A responsible, innovative society able to excel in all its achievements. A society based on harmony between economic vitality, environmental quality and social equity.” The strategy is based on three challenges: developing knowledge, promoting responsible action and fostering commitment.

As soon as the government strategy is adopted, the government’s departments and agencies will be required to develop their own sustainable development action plan and contribute to reaching the strategy’s objectives in keeping with the 16 principles of sustainable development set forth in the Act. The draft strategy has 9 directions and 29 objectives, which are described in the Government Sustainable Development Strategy documents put at the public’s disposal.

“We want the policies, programs and actions of the 150 government departments, organizations and agencies to be a part of the same reference framework, namely the strategy, in order to make government action more coherent within a perspective of sustainable development. The population also has its part to play in bettering our draft strategy and I invite them to do so by participating in the on-line public consultation,” said the Minister.

All public consultation documents on the draft strategy and details on how to participate in the on-line public consultation and parliamentary commission are now available on the National Assembly Web site.

These documents and information are also available on the Québec Portal and on the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs Web site.

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