OTTAWA - An attempt to present a common front of provinces against plans to ratify the controversial Kyoto accord on global warming has fallen acrimoniously apart.
Last Friday in Moscow, Ralph Klein, the Alberta Premier, upstaged Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, by producing a letter condemning the federal goal to ratify the convention this year. The letter, signed by British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell as the head of the Premiers conference, purported to represent the opinions of all premiers except Quebec. Mike Harris, Ontario's Premier, immediately joined B.C. and Alberta in voicing opposition to Kyoto.
But yesterday, Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, in a letter of his own, repudiated the previous document and came out in favour of the Kyoto accord.
"The Government of Manitoba supports the principles of the Kyoto Accord, subject to the negotiation of appropriate credits for renewable energy production and export," Mr. Doer wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister.
He went on to say that the letter signed by Mr. Campbell "does not reflect the views of Manitoba."
Saskatchewan and at least one of the Atlantic provinces are also reportedly not in agreement with Mr. Campbell's letter. One province apparently faxed in a list of proposed changes to the text of the letter and were not permitted to read Mr. Campbell's final version.
The emergence of the split reflects a broader crack in provincial solidarity.
"Quebec and Alberta might be at opposite ends of the spectrum and everyone else is in between," said Val Mellesmoen, director of communications for Alberta Environment Minister Lorne Taylor.
"Provinces like Ontario and B.C. are probably closer on our side. Provinces in the Maritimes, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan to a certain extent are more towards the middle or towards Quebec."
Under the 1997 Kyoto accord, Canada promised to reduce its greenhouse gases to 6% below 1990 levels. But emissions have continued to grow since 1990, and Canada would now have to reduce its emissions by about 19% to meet its Kyoto commitment.
The Chrétien government hopes to ratify the Kyoto accord in time for the G8 meeting in Kananaskis in June, where the European Union is expected to announce its ratification. Before then, federal Environment Minister David Anderson will try to reach a consensus on a Canadian position that, because of the growing split between the provinces, may be hard to achieve.
At a meeting of energy and environment ministers next week, Mr. Anderson will propose capping greenhouse gas emissions on an industry-by-industry basis, rather than imposing caps on individual provinces.
"The emissions program between provinces is probably unlikely," Mr. Anderson said. "There has been some effort to make this whole program divided up into 10 provinces and the territories. I find that to be less attractive than having a sector-by-sector approach."
As well, Mr. Anderson is renewing his push to have so-called "clean energy exports" recognized by the international community. This scheme -- which could go some way to appeasing Alberta -- would allow industries to get credits for exporting fuels such as natural gas, wind energy or hydroelectricity, all of which are cleaner than coal and oil.
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