Canada Holding Out On Commonwealth

With crucial climate-change talks due to get under way next week in Bali, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has apparently drawn a line in the sand and is resisting efforts by the 53 leaders of the Commonwealth to agree on a strong climate-change statement. With Australians heading for the polls Saturday in an election that is expected to see John Howard ousted as prime minister, the Australian delegation has been reluctant to stick out its neck on the issue, particularly since the Opposition Labour Party has embraced a strong agenda in favour of controlling climate change. That has left Mr. Harper virtually alone in fighting against binding emission goals. Australian Labour Leader Kevin Rudd promised this week to immediately ratify the Kyoto agreement if he wins the election. ”It will not get any easier for Mr. Harper if there's a change in the government of Australia,” another Commonwealth government source said. As the leaders headed into a day-long retreat Saturday to hash out its final communiqué, Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon confirmed Friday that ”there are still differences” over climate change, but he added that ”leaders are saying that we have to get a concerted view on this.” ”I'm not going to name names,” he told a news conference, declaring that the crux of the dispute was whether leaders would agree to ”firm commitments that are binding.” According to the Commonwealth source, what has upset Mr. Harper is a single line in the proposed statement that would say: ”We call for a long-term global goal as well as binding commitments to deep, absolute emission reductions by developed countries.” Mr. Harper's office hinted at the disagreement in a release to journalists describing the Prime Minister's activities on Friday. It noted that the leaders had begun their discussion on climate change and that in the absence of an agreed upon text, they had agreed to continue drafting work at their retreat Saturday. Sandra Buckler, Mr. Harper's director of communications, said that Mr. Harper had brought the same position to the meeting as he did to the G8 and APEC. ... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071123.wcommon1123/BNStory/International/

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