Alberta won't comply with any federal move to foist the controversial Kyoto accord on the province's energy industry, Environment Minister Lorne Taylor said Wednesday, warning Ottawa the province could take its battle to the Supreme Court.
Taylor walked away as co-chairman of a meeting of federal and provincial environment and energy ministers Tuesday over Ottawa's refusal to pitch Alberta's rival scheme for cutting greenhouse gas emissions to Canadians. He said there was no way the province would draft legislation to implement Kyoto if Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government ratifies the international accord.
In a speech to local business leaders delivered via teleconference from Charlottetown, Taylor said the provincial government's fight against the accord was akin to the constitutional battles of the 1980s, when then-premier Peter Lougheed took on federal attempts to control provincial resources.
While Taylor said the province preferred a negotiated solution in its battle with Ottawa and not the legal fights of decades past, he wouldn't rule out a trip to the courts.
"I'm not sure we'll have to go forward to a Supreme Court challenge," said Taylor. "I hope not. I hope we will be able to negotiate with the federal government as they go forward and develop a plan that is both acceptable to Alberta and the federal government."
Taylor, along with many of the province's business leaders, believes the accord would threaten some $57 billion in planned oilsands developments and force higher costs on existing petroleum, electricity and coal producers. Most emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases thought to cause global warming come from burning fossil fuels, such as oil or coal.
"We clearly will not implement the Kyoto agreement as it applies to Alberta," Taylor said.
"We recognize the federal government has every right to sign international agreements but it is very clear who owns the resource. The people of Alberta own the resources of Alberta," said Taylor.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, who is on a trade mission in Ukraine, added he will push other provinces to adopt the Alberta position.
"Alberta has developed a plan that would take on greenhouse emissions without the punitive effects of the (Kyoto) protocol," Klein said in a release. "Kyoto might work elsewhere in the world, but it won't work in Canada, at least not without hurting Alberta's economy and costing the province jobs, markets and growth."
Alberta's position on Kyoto was supported Wednesday by Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper.
"I don't think Kyoto as we now have it is ultimately going to be ratified and be effective worldwide," he said after his first caucus meeting as leader of the official Opposition.
"Yes, I think we've got to come up with something else and I think the Alberta government is in a sense more realistic in starting to face that and look at a wider range of approaches."
David Pollock, executive director of the Pembina Institute, a Drayton Valley-based environmental think-tank, said the provincial government's refusal to co-operate with Ottawa could have long-term consequences. Federal measures could become even more burdensome and the national government could exempt Alberta from sharing in any incentive programs designed to ease the burdens imposed by the treaty.
"Canada can impose any measure they choose that's in federal jurisdiction," Pollock said. "If Canada chooses to ratify without the co-operation of Alberta, the measure could end up being less efficient and more expensive for all Canadians, and Albertans in particular."
The Charlottetown conference was held in advance of cross-Canada public meetings planned by the federal government to present its options for ratifying the accord. However, Ottawa's refusal to present Alberta's plan to cut emissions along with its own options angered Taylor.
"This is no longer a national climate change process. It's a federal climate change process," he said.
Despite the federal refusal to take the Alberta plan -- a refusal backed by other provinces at the Charlottetown talks -- Taylor isn't giving up. He wants to take Alberta's climate change plan to every other province and have them put it forward as part of the Kyoto discussions.
The 1997 Kyoto protocol calls for the industrialized countries that signed the agreement to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to six per cent less than they produced in 1990 by 2012.
The province thinks the timetable is far too swift. Its plan calls for a 50 per cent cut in emissions produced for each dollar of gross domestic product by 2020.
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