Sell oil firm stake to fund Kyoto-Canada's Martin
Date: 04-Dec-02
Country: CANADA
Paul Martin, who leads in the race to replace Prime Minister Jean Chretien, said he favored using an estimated C$1.5 billion ($950 million) profit from the eventual sale of Ottawa's stake in Petro-Canada (PCA.TO) to develop the new technology.
That would be preferable to buying credits from countries like Russia, to allow Canada emit greenhouse gases, which are blamed by many scientists for global warming. Russia's own greenhouse gas emission has fallen as entire industrial sectors collapse, and this may leave it with credits to sell.
"What we must not do is to simply...reward countries who have got these kind of credits because of a failed industrial base," Martin, finance minister until Chretien sacked him in June, told reporters.
"That won't solve the climate change problem in any iota. All it would lead to is a transfer of dollars outside this country. It is my belief that those dollars could be much better spent developing the newer technologies here in Canada."
The federal government holds 19 percent of Petro-Canada, the country's No. 4 oil firm. It has long said it will sell the stake at some stage, but has given no indication that a sale is imminent.
The debate over Kyoto has reached a head as Chretien has pledged to put the question of ratifying the protocol to a vote in Parliament this month.
Big business and big oil have said implementing Kyoto will put them at a competitive disadvantage against the United States, which has rejected the protocol. But environmentalists have urged quick implementation.
