March 2, 2015

Parliamentary Assistant Glenn Thibeault
Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
77 Wellesley Street West, 11th Floor
Toronto ON  M7A 2T5

Dear Parliamentary Assistant Thibeault:

It is an honour and a pleasure to have you as my Parliamentary Assistant. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change and to outline some of the important work that lies ahead of us.

As you know, our government has a plan to invest in the talent and skills of our people, build modern infrastructure, support a dynamic and innovative business climate, and provide better retirement security to people across the province. At the heart of this plan are partnerships with businesses, people and communities, which will help our government grow the economy, create jobs and implement solutions that have a meaningful impact on people’s lives.

This balanced and comprehensive plan is underpinned by a focus on fiscal prudence. The mandate letter I received last year from Premier Wynne reinforced our government’s commitment to balance the budget by 2017-18 and to pursue increased openness, accountability and modernization.

Parliamentary Assistants play a key role in delivering these priorities and have a responsibility to put our government’s plan into action.

Together, we will work to articulate and communicate the problem of climate change and the opportunities that Ontario has to play a role in addressing the climate crisis. We will take meaningful action to ensure we achieve our greenhouse-gas reduction targets in order to ensure a healthy planet. We will also work to protect our Great Lakes, improve the health of pollinators, protect Ontarians from toxics and work to improve the quality of drinking water for First Nations. We will continue to enhance polluter responsibility, will work to improve waste diversion, and we will support the development of the ring of fire.

As one of the Parliamentary Assistants to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, your specific responsibilities will focus on stakeholder outreach and engagement as the Province develops and begins to implement its forthcoming strategy to address climate change. Specifically I am asking that you:

  • Support the Minister with legislative and committee matters related to climate change, including Bill 9, the Ending Coal for Cleaner Air Act, 2014.
  • Participate in meetings of the Ministers Table on Climate Change.
  • Help to facilitate strong relationships between the Ministry and its environmental and industry stakeholders with regard to climate change.
  • Work with industry to continue identifying additional economic opportunities and benefits of climate action, and to develop proposals that align with our government’s climate and environmental objectives and mitigate economic impacts on industry.
  • Work to identify the unique opportunities presented to northern businesses by putting a price on carbon.

I am confident that together, working in collaboration with our partners in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, we can deliver on our commitment to the people we are privileged to represent and serve. I look forward to working with you to deliver our ministry’s mandate, build Ontario up, and help achieve a brighter future for every person in this province.

Sincerely,

Original signed by

The Honourable Glen Murray
Minister of the Environment and Climate Change