Conservative plans to regulate car emissions get rocky reception

Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and auto union leader Buzz Hargrove accused the Conservative government Tuesday of unfairly using the province to meet its environmental goals, while letting Western Canada's oil patch off easy.

The two were responding to Ottawa's plans to impose new emissions regulations on car manufacturers.

“One thing we will not abide is any effort on the part of the national government to unduly impose greenhouse-gas emission reductions on the province of Ontario at the expense of our auto sector,” McGuinty said.

Said Hargrove: “This threatens the entire industry in Ontario.”

Hargrove of the Canadian Auto Workers union is one of a group of industry representatives, including the big five car manufacturers, who were to meet with cabinet ministers in Ottawa on Tuesday night.

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier were all expected to attend.

Government and industry sources say the Conservative government wants to regulate auto emissions for the first time. To date, Canada has always relied on either oral or written understandings with the car manufacturers that they would voluntarily follow standards set by the United States government.

The last memorandum of understanding was struck with the Liberal government in 2005.

The new Tory environmental strategy, expected this fall, will impose regulations after 2010, when the latest voluntary agreement on compliance will run out. Environmentalists say if Canada chooses to adopt California's high-bar on emissions, it could force the entire continent to follow suit.

Ambrose has said she would also introduce regulations in the oil and gas industry.

But McGuinty suggested Alberta and Saskatchewan aren't getting the same tough treatment.

“I certainly hope at some point in time the Honourable Rona Ambrose will also call upon those who are responsible for the oil-and-gas sector in Western Canada, and also bring those folks into her office so they may better understand as well how they are going to play a role in helping the country as a whole address our emission challenges,” he said.

Hargrove said in an interview the proposed standards would force billions of dollars worth of changes to the way North American automakers manufacture cars, at a time when they're already “on their knees.”

“The timing is ludicrous,” Hargrove said. “The industry has made major strides on emissions reductions, and a more appropriate way to handle this would be to introduce incentives for people who have older vehicles to trade them in for newer vehicles that are much more fuel efficient.”

Opposition politicians also criticized the move, saying it should be part of a larger framework for reducing Canada's greenhouse gases that includes the heavy polluters in the oil and gas sector.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said the car industry should also be supported in embracing new technologies, and consumers should be given incentives for buying more efficient vehicles.

“It should be a package, a full approach toward a green auto strategy that allows us to get past that old contradiction between jobs and the environment,” Layton said.

Conservatives, meanwhile, see a huge benefit to getting tough on Canada's worst greenhouse-gas emitters, with voters increasingly worried about the environment.

“Given the growth of the Canadian economy over the last 20-plus years how can anyone compellingly argue that sensible, effective environmental regulations hurt the economy?” said one Tory insider.

“Such regulations have been coming forward for 20-plus years and the economy grows, plus individuals benefit.”

The source said the government is looking at using the existing Motor Vehicles Consumption Standards Act, which has been on the books since 1981 but never proclaimed into law, as the basis for the new regulations. The Canadian Environmental Protection Act could also be used.

Some in the car industry privately said they were taken by surprise by the meeting with Conservative ministers. The American automakers had already been planning their annual two-day lobbying event on Parliament Hill when they were given notice of the meeting.