Country's Energy Ministers Talk Electricity in Halifax

Canada's energy ministers couldn't have picked a better time to talk about electricity.

While hundreds of thousands of Nova Scotians continued to deal with power blackouts in the aftermath of Hurricane Juan, Canada's energy ministers met in Halifax on Tuesday, Sept. 30, to discuss issues regarding Canada's energy supply and electricity generation and transmission.

"We had a tremendous discussion and reached consensus on a number of issues regarding electricity generation and transmission, renewable energy and energy supply issues," said Nova Scotia Energy Minister Cecil Clarke. "With the blackout in central Canada in August, and a hurricane here, it brought home the importance of ensuring we look at our electricity issues with generation, transmission and reliability as a nation rather than as individual provinces or territories."

The meeting was part of an annual two-day conference of federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for mines and energy issues. After a morning session with industry representatives from across Canada, the ministers met privately in the afternoon to discuss a number of energy-related issues and make decisions on how to move forward in the weeks and months ahead.

"This is a positive step in dealing with energy issues, issues that are of critical importance to Canadians," said Mr. Clarke. "I want to thank my federal, provincial and territorial colleagues for their commitment to continue with this meeting during a very difficult time. The fact that so much was accomplished demonstrates the national importance of these issues and the dedication and ingenuity of our Nova Scotian co- ordinating team who faced a number of challenges in ensuring the meetings were such a success."

The next meeting of the Mines and Energy Ministers will take place in Nunavut in July 2004. A copy of the Council of Energy Ministers Record of Decision is available at www.gov.ns.ca/energy .