Alta_redneck wrote:
Yogi should have included the date this was actually in the paper.
It was a response to Charest attacking us at the Copenhagen fiasco.
Not whining, just responding.
It would have been close to the date of the following, but I'll look around to see if I can find another copy of the article that is dated, AR.
Alberta fires back at Ontario, Quebec, over oilsands emissions
By Jason Fekete, Calgary Herald December 17, 2009 Calgary — With Canada's oilsands under attack in Copenhagen, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach went on an environmental offensive of his own Thursday with a national media blitz that assails other premiers and trumpets his province's green credentials.
In an open letter published in major Canadian newspapers, Stelmach appeared to take aim at Quebec and Ontario, and used a radio interview to throw direct jabs at the Liberal premiers of the two provinces.
Both Quebec and Ontario have used the Copenhagen climate-change talks to serve notice they don't want their greenhouse gas cuts contributing the lion's share of national reductions simply to offset rising emissions from the carbon-intensive oilsands.
On Thursday, Stelmach fired back. In the three-quarter-page newspaper ad, which cost $118,862 to run across the country — including in Montreal and Toronto — the premier said Alberta is doing its part both on the environmental and economic fronts.
"Albertans want to reduce emissions. We offer pragmatic, practical ways to do it. No one should ignore the economic stakes of this debate," Stelmach said in the ad.
"Slowing our economy is a guaranteed way to reduce emissions. But if Alberta's economy stops growing, all Canadians will feel this pain," added the premier, who skipped the Copenhagen talks and sent provincial Environment Minister Rob Renner in his place.
Stelmach said in the letter that Alberta's contribution to the federal treasury is "huge," with the province sending $21 billion more in taxes to Ottawa than it receives back in grants, programs and services.
Officials for Quebec Premier Jean Charest, who's in Copenhagen, rejected a request for an interview Thursday.
But Charest argued earlier this week at the conference that there are "Two Canadas," in that the federal government is pursuing a national climate-change plan with weaker targets than those in Quebec and Ontario. Early indications are the national strategy will offer some breaks to the oilsands.
"That doesn't reflect what we want in Quebec," Charest said. "For the provinces and territories, there are commitments that go much further."
Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen told a Toronto newspaper his province's "biggest fear" is Ottawa will use emissions reductions to "allow the tarsands development to proceed without hesitation."
Stelmach, however, maintained in his letter that Alberta has "led the country with emissions legislation" that penalizes companies that can't meet their targets, with the dollars paid in penalties invested in new technology that reduces emissions.
That approach "is more sensible than taking money from Canadian consumers and sending it to other countries" to offset emissions through any international cap-and-trade program, he said.
"We shouldn't waste time pointing fingers at one another. The world needs us to act, and that's exactly what we're doing," the letter concluded.
Columns and editorials appearing in such Quebec newspapers as La Presse and the Montreal Gazette have sided with Stelmach on the issue, criticizing Quebec and Ontario for "grandstanding for voters at home" by targeting the oilsands.
"Quebec and Ontario seem to forget that while Alberta spews gases, it also spews money," says a Gazette editorial.
"Alberta emission cuts would reduce profits from the tarsands, and dominoes would start to fall: Tax revenue would drop, equalization payments would decline, Quebec revenue would fall, and soon some of Quebec's social programs, Canada's most generous, would become unsupportable. Meanwhile, Alberta would be buying less of what Quebec produces and offering fewer jobs for Quebecers."
Political observers, nevertheless, said the ad will have limited effect outside Alberta.
'
In a radio interview, the embattled Stelmach — whose party is facing grim polling numbers at home — ramped up his attack against Charest and Ontario's Dalton McGuinty.
"I said I can predict that Quebec is going to go grandstand (in Copenhagen)," Stelmach said. "I didn't think Ontario would because there's a lot of jobs in Ontario that are dependent on the oilsands. What happens when we take these away?"
The premier said he thought cooler heads would ultimately prevail in Denmark, believing premiers had agreed technology was the country's best tool in reducing greenhouse gas emissions without crippling the Canadian economy.
Stelmach said he's onside with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice, who've also expressed their support for relying on technology, such as carbon capture and storage, to slash Canada's emissions.
"They (Harper and Prentice) had an agreement going in, and the only province that was offside was Quebec. But everybody else is onside," he said.
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
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