From the Times-Colonist – Jan 28, 2011

by Linda Nguyen

TORONTO — Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent has only been on
the job for three weeks but says he’s already tired of the criticism
from people who think the government is not taking any action on the
environment.

“As an aside, just weeks into this job let me
say how especially frustrating I find the constant, critical refrain
that this government has no environment plan,” he said Friday in Toronto
during a noon-hour speech with the Economic Club of Canada.

“Not only do we have one, we are one of the very few countries that does.”

Canada
also does not need to enact any new laws to deal with the issue of
climate change or reach targets for greenhouse gas emissions, Kent told
the crowd in his first major speech since being promoted to the
high-profile portfolio earlier this month.

“What many
people don’t realize is that Environment Canada already has the legal
tools it needs to execute our plan,” said Kent, who was most recently
Foreign Affairs minister. “It requires no new legislation.”

He is the fourth environment minister to serve under the Stephen Harper government since it was elected in 2006.

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