On targets

While Harper may yet believe he can win a large number of Canada's premiers to his side when it comes to equalization, at the moment he's losing provincial support by the day with his stubborn refusal to acknowledge the importance of the Kyoto Protocol:

Yesterday, Manitoba Premier Gary Doer said he has no intention of changing the province's commitment to its Kyoto targets, even if the federal government backs out of the agreement.

"I support Kyoto," Mr. Doer said. "We supported Kyoto before the Liberal government committed to it. We supported it after they committed to it and we support it now."

Mr. Doer said Manitoba will exceed the accord's emissions targets...

Quebec Environment Minister Claude Béchard said if Ottawa agrees to fund Quebec's emission-reduction targets, other provinces will demand the same treatment. "The first step is for them to give us the money. The second step will be for other provinces to demand equivalent amounts. That will make it difficult for Ottawa to reject Kyoto," Mr. Béchard told reporters yesterday.

Mr. Charest said Tuesday that Quebec would meet its Kyoto targets, regardless of whether Ottawa pulls out of the agreement...

"We are partially disappointed with the federal government's retreat on Kyoto, because we have been working on this for 10, 15 years. Many Quebec companies did the efforts to reduce emissions, and now it's as if we were being told that it was all for nothing," Mr. Béchard said.

It's particularly noteworthy that even as Harper tries to claim that the Kyoto targets can't be met, at least two provinces have made clear that they're under no such illusion, regardless of whether or not the Cons decide to direct federal funding to other priorities (or inefficient means of dealing with emissions). And if Harper decides to ignore the unanimous will of Quebec's National Assembly as well as the majority of Parliament, he'll look all the worse in the long run as his defeatist rhetoric is proven wrong.

Update: The CP goes into more detail about the existing agreements now being ignored by the Cons:

The federal government appears set to walk away from Liberal agreements that would have given the provinces millions of dollars to cut greenhouse gas emissions...

The Liberals had promised $538 million to Ontario and $328 million to Quebec for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Memorandums of understanding had also been reached with Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan.