Canada must provide leadership to the communities across the country to encourage sustainable growth and clean energy, Liberal leader Stephane Dion said in an interview Thursday, as he made his way through Central Ontario to a Friday morning breakfast with Barrie Liberals.

“What you are talking about is the most important challenge in the country: growth.  Barrie is a growing community and at the same time, (we must focus) on how to make it sustainable for the next generation. The federal government must play a key role,” he said in an interview with Simcoe.com

Growth is a key issue, as Simcoe County works on a growth plan to manage growth over the next 25 years. Meanwhile, the City of Barrie is examining two controversial proposals: an ethanol plant and a wind turbine. And a 20-year-old debate on where the next North Simcoe landfill site should be located continues, as construction is slated to start this year on Site 41.

“(The government of Canada) needs to play a role and give advice on how to have more wind power,” said Dion, as well as provide guidelines for communities as they struggle with environmental issues and how to encourage greener, more sustainable communities.

A Liberal government would advocate a green platform, complete with targets and with incentives and disincentives, he said, while maintaining that Stephen Harper’s Conservative government neglects the environment.

A former environment minister, Dion said the environment is important economically as well and will be a centrepiece of the Liberal platform.

“It is an opportunity, not just to stop pollution. When you build a sustainable community, you have good planning for the community as well as new ways to build your house. This will create the economy of the 21st century. There is an economic link and it will be at the core of the next federal campaign.”

Dion would not say when he would force the next election – but he did say the campaign will offer Canadians a clear choice: “the very right-wing Conservative government or a progressive approach, (for) a richer, stronger, greener and fairer Canada.”

He defined richer as being more competitive economically and linked it in the environmental economy.

Barrie planning consultant Rick Jones – the Barrie Liberal candidate – is the kind of person and professional the riding and the nation needs working at the federal level, he said.

“Rick Jones is exactly the kind of candidate Barrie needs. When you are growing as rapidly as Barrie, you need to have someone with that kind of expertise – the planning and surveying. This will be a great help for Barrie,” he said.

Jones also has been an advocate for the marginalized, as he has been serving as chairperson of the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness, and his volunteer activities include serving on the boards of Habitat for Humanity, the United Way and the Barrie Municipal Non-Profit Housing Corporation. He also serves on the Barrie Police Services Board.

In business for more than 20 years, he also received a Bell Canada award for business excellence three years ago.