Canada's response to climate change is one of the most important public policy choices facing the country. Manitoba played a leading role in helping to define that response during the debate over ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. It is time now to address issues of implementation, one of the most important being the matter of emissions trading and the supply of offset credits to this system by those who sequester carbon and reduce emissions. It is for this reason that the Government of Manitoba established this Task Force on Emissions Trading and the Manitoba Economy.

The Task Force on Emissions Trading and the Manitoba Economy was asked in June 2003 to analyze the implications for Manitoba of Canada's proposed domestic emissions trading system, and to make recommendations regarding economic and environmental opportunities for Manitoba. The task force was chaired by the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy. The task force's 12 members and five observers represented a cross section of affected sectors in Manitoba.

In its deliberations, the task force arrived at three overarching conclusions:

1. Manitoba has a natural advantage in offsets and clean electricity. Manitoba's natural advantage in domestic emissions trading is on the supply side and occurs in primarily two areas: the supply of offset credits via emission reductions and removals, and the provision of clean renewable electricity.

2. 2008 is too late! The planned start date of 2008 for the domestic emissions trading system is risky. The environmental and economic stakes are simply too high to wait until 2008 to find out if the system will work efficiently and to provide the necessary incentives for emission reductions and removals.

3. We need to get the trading system right in the long run. The currently proposed system needs major revisions in order to foster a clean-energy, low-emission economy.

The Task Force's final report – Realizing Opportunities: Emissions Trading in Manitoba – details 17 recommendations based on the above conclusions. Some of the recommendations are meant to be passed on to the federal government by the provincial government, while others are for the Manitoba government itself to consider.

The final report also provides summary information on Canada's proposed domestic emissions trading system; a description of who is affected in Manitoba; a description of opportunities for emissions reduction and removal, and offsets in Manitoba; and a summary of the administrative requirements of the proposed domestic emissions trading system and the opportunities these might present to Manitobans.

Additional material: Media release and media backgrounder (153 kb).