Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien recently appointed Sergio Marchi as the new Environment Minister. As such, he joins the Council of Ministers of the CEC. Mr. Marchi left his old job as Immigration Minister on January 25, taking over the Environment portfolio from nacec.Sheila Copps, who became Minister of Canadian Heritage.

"Pollution doesn't stop at city limits or at a provincial boundary or an international border," Mr. Marchi said, in recent speech. "People are ahead of us on this: they expect governments to work together and to work together now."

The new environment minister is a firm believer in sustainable development. "It means jobs for today and jobs for tomorrow," he said. "If we are not environmentally sound we will be locked out of markets around the globe."

Mr. Marchi also has a clear idea of his own priorities: "My personal agenda in this portfolio includes work to protect our endangered species. I don't want my daughter ever telling me she just saw the last Swainson’s hawk," he explained. "Another priority is water and a third is climate change. This means getting tough on toxins - the toxins we eat, the toxins we drink, the toxins we breathe."

The newest member of the highest CEC office was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1956. He emigrated to Toronto with his family when he was a child. There, he attended St. Basil School before graduating from nacec.York University with Honours in Urban Planning and Sociology. Sergio Marchi has been a Member of Parliament for the riding of York West since 1984.