OTTAWA – Canada needs to develop a more sustainable oilsands in Alberta and challenge those who've given the country a global black eye as the world tries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Environment Minister Jim Prentice says.

Prentice told an audience at the University of Calgary Monday that business needs to work closely with the provincial and federal governments to ensure a greener exploitation of the sandy bitumen stores in northern Alberta and achieve the goal of making the country a clean energy superpower.

"We have a lot of work to do. It is no secret, and should be no surprise that the general perception of the oilsands is profoundly negative. That is true both within Canada and internationally," Prentice said.

New, leading technologies and government investment are essential to killing the perception of Canada as an environmental villain.

"Absent this kind of Canadian leadership, we will be cast as a global poster child for environmentally unsound resource development. Canadians expect and deserve more than that."