OTTAWA - Stephen Harper will argue at next week's G8 summit that any international deal on climate change must recognize Canada's unique challenges in curbing greenhouse gases.
With the leaders attempting to reach an agreement on climate change, the prime minister will ask his colleagues to consider several disadvantages Canada faces in tackling the problem.
Senior Canadian officials told journalists at a pre-summit briefing that any acceptable deal would need to account for this country's growing economy, population, and oil industry.
"We're special, we're unique in the G8," said one official.
"We're not like Europe, we're not like the United States in all respects. . . We'll be looking for a result that both advances things on an international level but also is true to Canadian requirements."
The government has refused to say what position it will advocate but has hinted strongly that it will not support the greenhouse-gas targets and global carbon-trading system supported by most G8 countries.
The United States is said to be balking at those requests, and the Harper government has said it will attempt to play a conciliatory role between the European and American positions.
The Liberals ridiculed the government position as a lame excuse for inaction while other countries work to meet their Kyoto targets.
Canada will arrive at the summit with arguably the worst record of any G8 country in combatting greenhouse gases.
This country has seen a 25 per cent rise in emissions since 1990, although levels stabilized in 2005. The U.S. was the second-worst offender with a 16 per cent increase over that period.
Liberal MP David McGuinty called Harper's plea for special consideration "theatre of the absurd."
"I've been doing this for 20 years and I have never heard anything as absurd -- on the international diplomatic level, on this international environmental issue -- anything as absurd as this. Ever.
"(Other countries) tell us they're paying the price and biting the bullet, and working feverishly hard to achieve their Kyoto targets. But they're not going out to the world and saying, 'We're special! We're sooo special!'"
Countries such as Japan and many in the EU are already energy efficient enough that future emissions cuts could be even more complicated for them than for Canada.
In Denmark, for example, a car can cost double the retail price because of so-called green taxes.
An official said Canada's position at the summit will stem from the recent action plan unveiled by Environment Minister John Baird.
"I think we can be guided by the nature of the plan we've just unveiled. That's a plan designed to work for Canadian interests -- but to move us forward internationally," he said.
But that plan differs from the European position on several fronts. It proposes that Canada launch a new carbon market with the United States instead of joining the international one that already exists in Europe.
It also falls far short of the Kyoto targets, and proposes intensity-based emissions cuts that might not actually reduce Canada's actual greenhouse gas emissions at all.
An environmental think tank and the Deutsche Bank have both released studies in recent days claiming the Tory plan contains serious loopholes and will probably fail to meet even its own modest targets.
Harper leaves for Germany on Sunday and will first attend a European Union-Canada summit in Berlin.
He will then stop in Paris to meet Tuesday with the newly elected French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Sarkozy has proposed an import tax that would punish countries that do not respect the Kyoto accord, but another Canadian official said there are no immediate fears.
"That does not worry us. We have no reason to be worried," she said. "But it's a little early to speculate about what the leaders might discuss."
Given the European Union's common market, Sarkozy would need the approval of the 27 EU member states to slap such a tax on Kyoto non-compliant countries.
A spokesman for the French government said Sarkozy has two more pressing priorities to pursue at the EU: establishing a constitutional accord, and keeping Turkey out of the union.
Harper's European tour concludes with the three-day G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, which wraps up Friday.
Canada will press its European partners for greater troop commitments in southern Afghanistan.
The EU already has 15,800 soldiers in the country.
But the United States, Great Britain and Canada have shouldered the bulk of the heavy fighting and have suffered the most casualties. The U.S. has lost 395 soldiers, while the British have lost 58 and Canada has lost 56. Germany and Spain have lost 21 each.
In return, the EU will reiterate its longstanding frustration over Canada's failure to grant visa-free travel to eight of its member states including Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The EU demands equal treatment for all its citizens, and has issued two reports identifying Canada, the U.S. and Australia as the worst foot-draggers on waiving visa requirements.
The summit marks the departure of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who retires at the end of the month, from the international stage. And it marks the first appearance on the stage of Russian President Vladimir Putin since anti-government protesters in his country were beaten and arrested earlier this year.
