VANCOUVER (CP) - Canada's willingness to ratify the Kyoto protocol on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions appeared to take a hit Thursday.
While affirming Canada's commitment to the 1997 agreement, Natural Resources Minister Dhaliwal suggested a decision on ratification would depend on Canada's ability to meet its targets, the costs attached and the impacts on industry and different regions.
"We have to make sure we do it right and that's what the government's intention is, to make sure we have all the information, have an analysis and work with the provinces and then make a decision on whether we can ratify or not," Dhaliwal told the Globe 2002 conference on business and the environment.
But at the same conference Wednesday, Environment Minister David Anderson appeared firmer about Canada's commitment.
"We'd like to ratify and our aim is to ratify," said Anderson.
"But ratification will not take place without full consultation with territories and provinces and affected industries and ordinary Canadians.
"Secondly, there will not be ratification before we've worked out . . . some sort of plan where no region would pay a disproportionate or unfair burden."
A spokeswoman for Anderson said Thursday there's no difference between his position and that of Dhaliwal, who replaced Anderson as B.C.'s senior political minister in the last federal cabinet shuffle.
Anderson did not state that Canada would ratify Kyoto, she said, only that it would like to, and no decision had yet been made, she said.
The Kyoto protocol, signed by Canada and 185 other countries, commits them to cutting emissions that contribute to global warming six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.
"Of course nobody would have signed the protocol if they didn't have the intention to take action, so we're very committed to the Kyoto protocol," Dhaliwal told the conference.
Ottawa has announced programs worth $1.5 billion to combat climate change, Dhaliwal said. He announced eight new projects worth $7.7 million Thursday aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the prime suspect in global warming.
"We also have to be very realistic," he told reporters later. "Are we able to fulfil those targets? So this is the analysis that's being done.
"We have intentions to (ratify) but we need to understand all the facts before we make a final decision."
Ottawa has no deadline for ratifying Kyoto but Dhaliwal said he thinks a decision is needed by the end of this year "because I think for our industries we create uncertainty."
The nuanced differences between the two ministers' comments reflect a growing split within the Liberal cabinet on the pace and direction of Canada's commitments on climate change, said Bob Mills, environment critic for the Canadian Alliance party.
"I think you've got a couple of ministers dancing around the prime minister, who seems set on . . . (being) able to stand on an international stage and say we've ratified it," Mills said after listening to Dhaliwal's speech.
Anderson and Dhaliwal seem aware of the obstacles to ratification, said Mills, but Prime Minister Jean Chretien appears ready to ratify now and tally the costs afterward.
"I think industry and provincial governments will start to take advantage of that and start to put the heat on them even more," said Mills.
Kyoto has been a political hot potato. Several provinces with energy-intensive industries oppose ratifying the agreement because of the potential cost of meeting its goals.
They're also worried Canadian businesses will be at a competitive disadvantage to Americans because the U.S. government has announced it won't ratify.
U.S. President George Bush's policy was based on concerns that meeting the Kyoto targets would damage the American economy.
Dhaliwal criticized the U.S. position, telling delegates it's in everyone's long-term interest for the Americans to join other nations in a global approach to climate change.
"We are also concerned about the lack of a clear target for greenhouse-gas emissions reduction in the president's plan, especially relative to 1990 levels as undertaken by other industrialized countries," he said, noting the United States is responsible for 25 per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Canada is also pushing for recognition of its clean-energy exports, such as hydro-electricity and natural gas, to be applied as a credit towards meeting its Kyoto targets.
One third of Canada's increase in greenhouse-gas emissions in the 1990s was due to expanded energy exports from sources that were cleaner than the ones they replaced, such as coal-fired U.S. power plants, he said.
The consuming country can claim a credit for reducing its emissions but Dhaliwal said the producing country should not be penalized.
"There is an increasing international awareness of this dilemma," he said.
Canada will press the issue when Kyoto signatories meet in Whistler, B.C., in May, said Dhaliwal.
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