Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 29, 2002
Kyoto Quiz
Canada is still set to ratify the 1997 Kyoto treaty on global warming this year, even as its provinces grumble at its terms and insist that they should not foot the bill, Environment Minister David Anderson said on Monday. Speaking at the end of a one-day meeting in a Halifax casino, Anderson acknowledged he did not set the agenda to ratify the treaty, which would oblige Canada to cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 6 percent from 1990 levels by 2012.
But he said the chance of delay was “highly unlikely,” despite complaints from the provinces that a government plan on how Canada will meet the Kyoto targets is short on detail about what ratification will cost and on who needs to act.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien says Canada will ratify the treaty by the end of this year, and that it is the federal government, not the provinces, which determines the issue. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)