MONTREAL - NDP Leader Jack Layton wants to eliminate $2 billion in subsidies for the oilsands, and put the money toward clean energy.
The idea has been endorsed by federal Finance Department officials, the Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation, and the G20, but has been rejected repeatedly by the Harper government.
"I will immediately eliminate all of Stephen Harper's subsidies to fossil-fuel producers. We'll stop the flow to the tarsands, every single penny," Layton said at a campaign stop at a company that recycles computer equipment.
"And I'll redirect the savings into Canada's most promising clean energy."
Research by the International Institute of Sustainable Development has pegged the value of federal and provincial government subsidies for fossil fuels at $2 billion a year. The subsidies mostly come in the form of tax measures and investment incentives.
The federal share amounts to about $1.4 billion a year, according to the institute.
The institute estimates emissions from the oil sands are 12 per cent higher than they would be without government subsidies.
"This is the choice for Quebecers in this election: a prime minister who underwrites major polluters, or a prime minister who wants to put an end to these subsidies."
In Quebec for the first time during the campaign, Layton is choosing a sympathetic province to announce the key plank in his environmental platform.
In his speech, Layton urged voters who want to get rid of Harper to support the NDP instead of other opposition parties that have not managed to oust him.
"I'm asking Quebecers to support my leadership so that we can do more than simply keep Stephen Harper from his majority. We can defeat him once and for all," Layton said.
"Even though most Quebecers voted against Stephen Harper and his failed plan, five years and two elections later, he is still prime minister, and Canadians are still paying billions in subsidies to the tarsands polluters."
He said Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has done nothing positive for Quebec, and instead worked with the Tories to keep Canadian troops in Afghanistan longer -- a sensitive issue in Quebec.
But Layton did not take direct aim at the Bloc Quebecois, which holds a large majority of seats in Quebec.
"I'm standing here before Quebecers to ask them to work with me. Not to take away a few Conservative seats but to replace Stephen Harper as prime minister."
On Thursday, Layton is taping an appearance on the popular Quebec television talk show, Tout le monde en parle. The show airs Sunday.
