Harper slams door on oil and gas regulations

OTTAWA - Stephen Harper slammed the door on unilaterally regulating Canada's oil and gas sector Tuesday even as four provincial governments, representing almost 80 per cent of Canada's population, were pledging to go further and faster in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Environment ministers from British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec signed what they're calling a compact in Lima, Peru, where an international climate conference is underway.

They've joined with 12 other sub-national governments — ranging from New South Wales in Australia to Scotland — in recognition that their national governments may not be prepared to move with the urgency required.

"All of us are signed on to an agreement to set targets together, to set common disclosures and to build co-operation to get deep reductions," Glen Murray, Ontario's minister of environment and climate change, said in an interview from Lima.