Feds, Alberta May Be Set for Climate-Change Showdown

By DENNIS BUECKERT

OTTAWA (CP) – Climate change could lead to constitutional turbulence in Canada, as the federal and Alberta governments push rival plans to limit greenhouse emissions.

Each jurisdiction has promised to regulate emissions from big industry using so-called intensity targets, but there’s no guarantee the targets will agree.

In the past month or so, Alberta has accelerated work on its regulatory regime, and a spokesman for Premier Ed Stelmach said the province is not waiting for any guidance from Ottawa.

“Alberta is going to move ahead on its own environmental regulations,” said Tom Olsen.

“We’re very interested in seeing what the feds come up with, and what any other province comes up with, but we recognize it’s an important issue and we’re going to tackle it on our own.”

So which regime would prevail in case of a conflict?

“We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it,” said Olsen. But he noted that Alberta owns its natural resources, and will emphasize that point.

Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner struck a conciliatory tone when visiting Ottawa this week, but said he expected the federal government to harmonize its targets with Alberta.

Marlo Raynolds, executive director of the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development, said Alberta’s rush to pass legislation may reflect stepped-up concern about the environment in Ottawa.

“It’s very curious that Alberta has jumped on this so quickly. In premier Stelmach’s leadership campaign you couldn’t find the word climate change or greenhouse emissions.

“I have a hunch that industry started getting nervous about what the federal government might do.”

Raynolds said the threat of a clash with Alberta regulations could affect Ottawa’s strategy: “Basically what it does is, it adds political pressure on the feds to minimize their requirements on industry.”

Environment Minister John Baird has promised to propose short-term emissions-cutting targets for industry in coming weeks or months.

But if it comes down to a race, Alberta is likely to win. The province passed legislation in 2002 allowing it to curb greenhouse emissions. Now targets can be plugged in quickly, likely this spring.

The federal timetable is longer – Baird will propose targets soon, but that will be followed by consultation that could take a year.

Uncertainty has been tightened by the tight secrecy surrounding federal intentions. Even senior officials in the oil and gas industry say they don’t know what to expect.

“They’re obviously in the middle of deliberations and they haven’t figured out where they’re landing,” said Rick Hyndman of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. “We haven’t heard much.”

Steward Elgie, an environmental lawyer at the University of Ottawa, said an emissions regime set out by the federal government will likely be challenged on constitutional grounds.

He said Ottawa is likely to win that challenge, as it has won a series of challenges of environmental statutes over the years.

“The bigger issue isn’t the constitutional limits, it’s the political limits.

“There’s a real question as to how far the federal government is willing to go in regulating Alberta energy issues. The last federal government that tried that got burned.”