OTTAWA - Canada's environment minister says his bottom line going into international climate-change talks next week will be that all of the world's major polluters must accept targets for reducing emissions.
And John Baird says his government would like to see a new agreement on climate-change be sealed by 2009 -- a date that many environmental groups have pushed for.
Baird was at a Commons committee to lay out his government's position leading into next month's United Nations negotiations in Bali, Indonesia.
He told MPs there's no point for a relatively small emitter like Canada to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, if China and other developing nations are allowed to pollute as usual.
That's the same position Prime Minister Stephen Harper laid out at last week's meeting of Commonwealth leaders.
Major emitters such as China and India were left out of the last major agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, in recognition of the fact that their economies were still in development.
But for the next agreement that kicks in to action in 2012, Baird said all emitters must pull their weight.
Baird will lead the Canadian delegation to Bali in two weeks, including a group of high-profile advisers that he has yet to publicly disclose.
Members of the opposition are not being brought along by the government, but Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said he will go to Bali nevertheless.
