January 6, 2003 - Ottawa - TransCanada PipeLines Limited continued its outstanding record of environmental stewardship this year with the planting of more than 6,000 trees across Canada. The plantings were facilitated by the Tree Canada Foundation with the help of a number of community partners and took place through two main projects.

TransCanada planted 75 trees in each of 75 communities across Canada in a joint project with Human Resources Development Canada celebrating 75 years of public pensions. Trees were planted in every province, four First Nations reserves, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Most of the more than 5500 plantings were done adjacent to seniors’ homes or with the help of seniors.

In addition, TransCanada helped plant 795 trees under the Saskatchewan Urban Forest Diversification Program – a project to diversify urban forests in various Saskatchewan and Manitoba cities from being dominated by the disease-prone American elm.

"Planting and maintaining trees fits perfectly with TransCanada’s environmental philosophy," said Brian McConaghy, TransCanada’s Vice-President of Community, Safety and Environment. "We understand the value of trees for the health benefits they provide to Canadians including purifying our air and water."

"TransCanada has been a major supporter of Tree Canada since 1996. Through our partnership with TransCanada close to seven million trees have been planted across Canada," said Michael Rosen, Vice-President. The company won the Foundation’s coveted Eterne Award in 1998 for leadership in corporate tree planting.

TransCanada is a leading North American energy company. The company’s network of approximately 38,000 kilometres of pipeline transports the majority of western Canada’s natural gas production to the fastest growing markets in Canada and the United States. TransCanada owns, controls, manages or is constructing facilities for approximately 2,650 megawatts of power -- an amount of power that can meet the needs of more than 2.5 million average households.

The Tree Canada Foundation is a not-for-profit, charitable organization established to encourage Canadians to plant and care for trees in urban and rural environments. The goal is to help reduce the harmful effects of carbon dioxide emissions. Working with over 1300 groups and organizations, the Foundation has planted over 75 million trees in 220 communities across Canada since 1992.