Honourable senators, “. . . there still is a place for daring in the Canadian soul.” These are the words of Canada’s eighteenth prime minister, Brian Mulroney, from his speech accepting Pollution Probe’s 2019 Environmental Leadership Award.

This prominent graduate of Antigonish’s St. Francis Xavier University also cited the words carved into the Peace Tower, from the Book of Proverbs, “Where there is no vision, the people perish . . . .”

In 1992, at the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, under the leadership of Prime Minister Mulroney, our country, Canada, demonstrated our daring and vision by being the first industrialized country to step up and sign the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and by helping to bring the U.S. on board in support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Colleagues, as Canada hosts close to 200 countries at COP 15 on biodiversity in Montreal, in what has been described as one of the most important events for life on Earth, it is time again — 30 years later — for Canada to exhibit that daring and vision in both declaring our own commitments and working with our international partners to encourage ambition in developing a plan to halt the decline of ecosystems, wildlife and the life-supporting services they provide, reinforcing significant nature-based solutions to climate change.

Colleagues, Canada is home to an estimated 80,000 species, and evidence indicates that 20% of those are at some level of risk. Globally, more than a million species are threatened with extinction. Furthermore, most of the world’s GDP depends on nature.

Colleagues, you will hear important calls for 30x30 — agreeing to conserve at least 30% of the earth’s land and water by 2030 for Indigenous conservation leadership and respect for Indigenous rights and knowledge, for recovery of species at risk and restoration of degraded ecosystems, for sustainable management of resource-based industries, for stronger consideration of biodiversity in decision-making, for greater accountability mechanisms and, of course, for allocation of sufficient financial resources.

Honourable colleagues, I encourage every one of us to pay close attention to the important events happening in Montreal, and to heed the earlier quoted speech by Mr. Mulroney where he concluded:

As difficult as the process may be . . . the work cannot be left to the next fellow. The stakes are too high, the risks to our planet and the human species too grave. We are all on the same side, determined to leave a better world and a more pristine environment to all succeeding generations.

Wela’lioq. Thank you.