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Alta Premier Says Per-Capita Federal Environment Funding Won't Be Enough

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 February 2007, 21:00 CST

By JAMES STEVENSON

CALGARY (CP) - If the federal government wants to criticize Alberta over its emissions levels from the oilpatch, it needs to pony up with more than per-capita investment dollars to find a solution, Premier Ed Stelmach said Tuesday.

Stelmach said he is concerned about how much his province would get from a new $1.5 billion federal environmental fund that is tied to population-based funding.

"If Ottawa is looking at Alberta in terms of (being) a major emitter, then of course we need more than just per-capita funding," the premier told reporters in Edmonton.

"I'll be talking with the prime minister further."

On Monday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled his Canada Eco-Trust and Clean Air Fund that includes $350 million in funding for smog-fighting projects in Quebec, which is on the verge of a provincial election campaign.

Details of how the new fund will be spent have yet to be released, but the proposed cash will be divided on a per capita basis, aimed at projects that have concrete reductions in air pollutants.

During a lunchtime speech in Calgary, Stelmach said the federal government "can't have it both ways" by criticizing Alberta's big polluters without putting in cash for renewable energy projects or research and development to help cut emissions.

Stelmach reiterated that Alberta needs more than just the per capita funding because the province is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

He said Alberta's population of 3.3 million was less than that of the greater Toronto area and yet it contributes about $4,500 per person annually in payments to the federal government.

"I'm just making the comparison that although Alberta is small in terms of its population, the job we have to do - the task ahead of us - is immense and we'd like to sit down and discuss this with the federal government," he said.

"If Alberta is the province that others are focused on in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and the intensity levels, then let's just work together and make it meaningful in terms of the capital investment."

Stelmach also said the environmental file is like "a runaway train" in terms of every political party trying to get ahead of each other to come up with plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He said the environment leap-frogged health as the number one issue with most Canadians.

It is anticipated that environmental issues will loom large in Quebec's next election, which could be called shortly.

Meanwhile British Columbia announced Tuesday that it hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent - potentially going even further than California's much heralded targets to reduce the state's emissions to 1990 levels within 13 years.

-With files from Jim Macdonald in Edmonton.

Source: Canadian Press

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