The Ghislain Dufour Business Forum welcomed, last Friday, December 6th, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Canada, and Member of Parliament for the Quebec riding of Laurier—Sainte-Marie, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault. A Member of Parliament since the 2019 election, the Minister visited us for the first time in the context of the Forum. It was also the first time a guest arrived by bicycle, despite temperatures nearing ten degrees below zero.
Minister Guilbeault came to discuss environmental issues with the guests and members of the Forum, as he was returning from COP29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The Minister took the opportunity to discuss the actions taken by Justin Trudeau's government to improve Canada's carbon footprint. During his presentation, Mr. Guilbeault explained the concrete changes that Canada has undergone in recent years, including the reduction of coal-fired energy production.
It was interesting to hear the Minister talk about the ecological transition we are engaged in as a country and the impacts of government decisions on our economy. For the Minister, his government's policies are working well, as evidenced by the fact that our greenhouse gas emissions have decreased over the last nine years, compared to a significant increase over the previous ten years.
Of course, Mr. Guilbeault addressed the issue of our relations with our southern neighbors and the impact these will have in the near future.
After his presentation, Minister Guilbeault answered questions from Forum members. Our guests addressed several themes, including new technologies in energy production and the importance of supporting innovative solutions to improve our environmental record.
From left: Marc Desmarais, Vice-President, Government Relations, at NATIONAL Public Relations in Montreal; Minister Steven Guilbeault; Mirabel Paquette, Partner and Senior Vice-President, Corporate Communications at NATIONAL Montreal and Coordinator of the Ghislain Dufour Business Forum; and Mathieu Filion, Senior Director, Public Affairs and Government Relations at NATIONAL Montreal.
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The Ghislain Dufour Business Forum allows business people to meet and engage in dialogue with Quebec and Canadian political and business figures, political advisors or high-level public administrators on an apolitical and non-partisan basis. For more information, visit the event page.
