Provincial Environment Stance

It's a good thing that the provincial governments of Quebec and Ontario have called for higher reduction targets. These are the two most populous provinces condemning the federal government for not setting higher targets. Notice that Quebec has set a 17% higher reduction target than the Conservative government. Meanwhile, the Tories keep insisting that their 3% reduction from 1990 levels is "science based." Why? Because mathematics is a science and 3% is a number. We got a fossil award for that. Now that Hydro-Quebec is in charge of New Brunswick Power, we can start phasing out the coal-fired plants and phasing in the clean hydro power. Meanwhile, Stephen Harper refuses to do anything for the environment.

Delegations from Ontario and Quebec wasted no time before differentiating their position from the federal government’s after arriving yesterday at the climate change conference in Copenhagen – declaring they weren’t going to carry higher emission reduction burdens for the sake of oilsands expansion in the Western provinces.

“I don’t think it takes a genius to figure out that with the tarsand oils that are being developed in Alberta and Saskatchewan that – of discussions that I’ve seen and been a part of – they want to continue to develop those,” said Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen.

“Obviously, if they are developed there might have to be larger greenhouse gas emissions (reductions) elsewhere in the country in order to meet our overall targets. And we want fairness.”

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Quebec+Ontario+feds/2337634/story.html

While Stephen Harper will be trying to ruin a deal, the provincial delegates will be trying to seal one.