Environment Minister and industry delegation show interest in learning fromGalician experience following Prestige accident

On January 20 Minister of Environment Kevin Aylward and the Canadian ambassador in Spain, Alain Dudoit started their visit to Galicia accompanied by a Canadian delegation from different economic sectors. They met on Monday in Santiago with the president of the Xunta, Manuel Fraga, and the Councillor for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Enrique L�pez Veiga. Minister Aylward expressed the interest of the Newfoundland and Labrador officials and industry delegation in learning from the experience and the example of collaboration given in Galicia following an ecological catastrophe such as the Prestige accident.

Minister Aylward said: "An event like this could happen at any time and in any other place in the world. This is an opportunity for us to make the most of this visit to Galicia for an on-site understanding of the response given here to an oil spill of this kind. We are accompanied by representatives of the fishing sector and the oil industries. We can see the challenges faced by the different authorities in a case like this. This is something we can learn from, bearing in mind that in Canada the distribution of responsibilities between the federal and provincial governments is similar to that existing in Spain. The cooperation here is outstanding."

Both Minister Aylward and Councillor L�pez Veiga agreed on the need to continue with further dialogue and with a closer relationship between Canada and Spain, particularly between the Newfoundland and Labrador and Galician authorities and some of their respective fishing sectors.

Councillor L�pez Veiga said: "We must recover direct dialogue between the people of Newfoundland and Galicia. I know the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and I know they will react well to this call for a mutual understanding, as we have a lot in common. What is more, the Galician fishing sector will perfectly understand this desire for a closer relationship and for dialogue, as it is this sector that has the greatest interest in developing a peaceful and cordial relationship with Canada."

Minister Aylward repeated his invitation for both the president of the Xunta and the Councillor for Fisheries to visit Canada. The minister informed them that he had formed a working group to prepare for the visit of a delegation from Galicia to Newfoundland and Labrador, a trip that had to be postponed by the Councillor for Fisheries, Enrique L�pez Veiga, due to the Prestige accident off the Galician coast.

Media contact: Communications, (709) 729-2575.

2003 01 21                                       1:10 p.m.