You always refer to a continental policy and give the United States as an example. To my way of thinking, the United States have a regime in place that often allows them to negotiate agreements with the different states.
Does the regime that you intend to put forward in the coming weeks on the eve of the Copenhagen Conference take into account the fact that bilateral agreements may be concluded with provinces that pledge to uphold Canada's international commitments? Will some provision be made for flexibility, asymmetry and bilateral relations mechanisms, or will Canada put forward a coast to coast plan setting out different national global targets for different sectors? Will there be the kind of flexibility that we see in BillC-311 that will allow provinces to conclude a bilateral agreement? When the Liberals were in power and Stéphane Dion was Minister of the Environment, the federal government had the option of concluding a bilateral agreement with Quebec. Discussions had taken place between the then federal and provincial ministers of the environment. Will the proposed regime give Quebec the flexibility to conclude a bilateral agreement on greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments?