Federal Environment Minister - Tory Govt.'s Planned Carbon Cut Programs Nearly Impossible To Verify

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OTTAWA — Two central programs that the Conservative government has claimed will result in significant reductions in Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are nearly impossible to verify, the federal environment commissioner says.

A tax credit intended to encourage public transit use, part of the maiden Tory budget in 2006, will "lead to negligible reductions" in Canada's greenhouse gas emissions and the tools to measure its impact don't yet exist, Scott Vaughn's audit of the government's tools for cutting air emissions found.

And impressive claims that a $1.5-billion climate change trust fund would lead to an 80-megatonne cut in emissions by giving provinces money to go green appears to be based more on a best-case scenario that may be flawed, the audit found. Even if an accurate analysis had been done, there are no measures in place to ensure Ottawa gets the results it is paying for because provincial governments are under no obligation to account for how the cash is spent.

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The findings, which are a direct attack on the government's already-strained reputation as climate-change fighters, were contained in a report to Parliament this afternoon by Auditor General Sheila Fraser's office.

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http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/582929