'We'll find out' whether unity on climate change possible, Manitoba premier says

Developing a unified strategy to fight climate change is the number 1 priority for the meeting Monday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial and territorial leaders, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger says.

"We hope to listen to other people today and see how we can work together," Selinger said. "We think it's very important that on the international stage, Canada has a unified voice [on climate chnage]."

Alberta's climate change plan, released Sunday, was "positive" for the country, Selinger said, and he looks forward to releasing his own strategy before he and the other leaders, including Trudeau, head to the international climate change conference in Paris in December.

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"Many provinces have been working on plans. We have a plan we're ready to announce before we go to Paris," Selinger said.

The yet-to-be-announced Manitoba plan will include a new emissions target, the premier said.

"We'll find out," he said about whether a unified climate plan is possible. "I think there's going to be a great diversity of approaches to it, but the whole point is to find a way to make a contribution to reducing the greenhouse gases, but I do expect a lot of diversity. I think that's completely understandable. Every province has its own approach and its own strengths and weaknesses they're going to bring to the table."

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said Sunday she wants to phase out all pollution created by burning coal by 2030. In a statement Sunday, Selinger said Manitoba put North America's first petroleum coke and coal heating ban into effect in 2014.

Another major plank of Notley's plan is a price on carbon. Selinger would not say if he was considering introducing a similar tax in Manitoba.

"That'll be part of the announcement," he said in Ottawa. 

First meeting since 2009

Selinger, Trudeau and the other premiers meeting is the first of its kind since 2009. Along with climate change, the resettlement of Syrian refugees, infrastructure, health and missing and murdered indigenous women are also expected to be on the agenda.

Selinger was part of a conference call Monday morning to hear the specifics of the Trudeau government's plan to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of the year.

Manitoba has already said it's able to settle about 2,000 of them.

"I'll listen to that and make sure that Manitoba is well-positioned to do our share and maybe even go beyond, go well beyond, what we normally do to accept more refugees in Manitoba," Selinger said. 

It's a massive logistical undertaking, but federal Immigration Minister John McCallum has told Selinger the federal government will help pay for the resettlement, the premier said.

"When I talked to Minister McCallum, he was very aware that the federal government would have to make a contribution to this. They just couldn't bring them all over and leave the tab with the provinces," Selinger said.

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Normally Manitoba settles around 1,500 refugees a year and Selinger said the province has already welcomed about 1,000 this year. The additional 2,000 refugees Manitoba is prepared to bring in from the Syrian war would raise the total number of refugees entering Manitoba in 2015 to 3,000.