The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The chummy news conference that wrapped up the annual premiersÕ meeting last Friday could not disguise an inescapable reality: There will be no real progress on climate change without leadership from the federal government. CanadaÕs 13 provincial and territorial leaders gathered last week in Quebec City to discuss a range of issues, including global warming, the economy and labour mobility. They managed to see eye to eye on some things, including making it easier for skilled workers to have their credentials recognized in other provinces, safeguarding the North American Free Trade Agreement against U.S. protectionist impulses, and urging Ottawa to clear a backlog of visa applications. But on climate change, it was clear from the outset that no amount of talk could bridge the chasm between provinces with substantial oil and gas reserves Ð particularly Alberta and Saskatchewan Ð and the rest. Without those key carbon-spewing provinces onside, any attempt by the others to curb emissions, no matter how innovative and ambitious, will inevitably come up short. So the premiers were left to nibble at the margins by pledging to increase energy efficiency by 20 per cent by 2020 and to promote green technologies. A concerted attack on greenhouse gas emissions requires national leadership, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper has virtually abandoned the field to the provinces by proposing feeble intensity-based targets that would cap carbon emissions per unit of production, but could still see overall emissions continue to rise. To their credit, some provinces have moved to fill that vacuum. Ontario said Friday it is joining British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and seven U.S. states in the Western Climate Initiative, which is developing a regional cap-and-trade system that would put firm limits on carbon emissions and allow heavy polluters to buy credits from companies that come in under their quotas. But a jumble of provincial and regional rules is no substitute for a tough national plan that encompasses all provinces. Federal Liberal Leader Stphane Dion, who has staked his political future on a national carbon tax, appears to understand that. So far, however, Harper has shown no interest in giving his widely panned climate change strategy more teeth. To no oneÕs surprise, the premiers have left Quebec City without bridging their irreconcilable differences on fighting global warming. For better or (more likely) for worse, the ball is back in HarperÕs court.
