OTTAWA (CP) - A prime minister who now promises to fight climate change once ridiculed the Kyoto accord as a money-sucking socialist scheme and said he would battle to defeat it.

Stephen Harper derided the global treaty and questioned the science of climate change in a 2002 fundraising letter sent to members of his now-defunct Canadian Alliance party. With polls showing the environment is a top priority with voters and Harper keen to bolster his environmental credentials, the letter could prove embarrassing.

It was circulated Tuesday by the Liberals, who said it unmasks Harper as a climate-change denier.

"Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations," says the letter, signed by Harper.

"Implementing Kyoto will cripple the oil and gas industry, which is essential to the economies of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia . . .

"Workers and consumers everywhere in Canada will lose. THERE ARE NO CANADIAN WINNERS UNDER THE KYOTO ACCORD."

He also blasted the treaty for targeting carbon dioxide - which he said is "essential to life" - and played down the science of climate change as "tentative and contradictory."

Harper went on to promise a "battle of Kyoto" in hope of defeating the Chretien Liberals' efforts to implement the treaty legislation in the House of Commons.

"But we can't do it alone. It will take an army of Canadians to beat Kyoto, just as it did to beat (the) Charlottetown (constitutional accord)," he wrote.

These days, Harper avoids critcizing the Kyoto accord, and simply dismisses its targets as unattainable.

Kyoto calls for a six per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2012. Canada's emission levels have risen 27 per cent since 1990.

The prime minister's office would not comment on the letter but pointed out that the emission levels occurred under the previous Liberal government.

Now, with public-opinion polls indicating that climate change is becoming a dominant political concern for Canadians, the prime minister is promising serious action.

He intends to introduce a vastly revamped version of his Clean Air Act in the coming months. The original legislation has been ridiculed by opponents and opinion-makers as a work in progress that fails to set reduction targets before 2050.

The Liberals said the letter proves Harper isn't serious about tackling climate change.

"It's no wonder Mr. Harper's sudden change of heart is hard for Canadians to swallow," said Liberal MP Mark Holland.

"Now, suddenly, because he has seen the polls and realized the political opportunism of going 'green,' the prime minister has launched a new campaign - that of trying to convince Canadians that he actually cares about the environment.

"Well, no one is buying it."

My name is Shane Pulak CEO of Project R.A.F.T. Int'l
www.projectraft.org. The UN has recently contacted me about an up and coming conference being held in Libya January 15-17. They have asked Project R.A.F.T. Int'l To find 10-25 people of African desent but who currently reside in USA or CANADA so to represent their home country at the conference! The trip includes free airfare and accomodations for a week. I will need people to further contact me at project.raft@gmail.com for more info. I will need all your infomation by December 5th 2005 and the very latest by December 10th as that is the deadline! So once again if your living in USA or CANADA and were born in AFRICAN and are interested in a conference thats main purpose is to UNite Africa then please get a hold of me. First come first serve!!!
Thanks Again Shane PUlak
CEO
Project RAFT Intl. www.projectraft.org

"Once bitten, Twice shy, is an old cliche but Eh, let the record speak for itself! Paul Martin, Canadas Prime Minister and his minority party the Liberals who only two years ago during their last campaign announced increasing foreign aid, but still havent touched the topic and Canada as a result still only ranks number 11 out of 22 countries who participate in the 0.7 percent developmental Aid Program! This government has not only failed the Canadian people, tarnished the international Canadian reputation, but as well failed the very poor and weak people of various developing countries with lies and broken promises of the worst kind! This government has been caught lying and caught red handed in a 9 billion dollar sponsorship scandal dealing with corruption, accounting fraud and mismanagement! This scandal which has led to a no conifidence vote within the Parliament of Canada and therefore Canada has a new federal election to look forward to in the new year as well as multiple possible criminal and fraud cases to investigate within the Liberal party! So before you run to the polls remember the liberals have been caught straight up lying, deceiving and cheating not only the weak and volnerble of lesser developed countries but have lied and cheated there own people just the same! These are fat cat cowards who are only interested in easy financial dealings and back room swindling with one hand in your wallet and the other hand with a microphone speaking like a red faced juevenials in denial! Enough hot air already just get off the stage and save it for the court room! Canada gives a measly 0.26 percent of its GDP which is roughly 3 billion Canadian dollars to international aid! It should be 9 billion dollars! Canadian?s should know this when they go to cast their ballot in the up and coming federal elections! Amongst Canadians and especially the youth, Canadians are well known for their humanitarian efforts, contributing the highest per capita in disaster relief efforts and helping impoverished nations with developmental aid are some of the good deeds that Canadians are known for and talked about on the world stage by the likes of Bono, Jeffrey Sachs and BobGeldof! Bono and Paul Martin. The Liberals with the past Finance minister of Canada Paul Martin who is now the Prime Minister and has NOT even made an official effort to crunch the numbers and set a financial model in place so to at least show how Canadians are measuring and making progress with the 0.7 percent developmental aid program that we invented in the first place and we still have no bench mark system even in place to date to measure any success or failure! I say let the record speak for itself Mr. PAUL MARTIN PRIME MINISTER and former FINANCE MINISTER OF CANADA that you have waited much too long to make a decision and create a course of action! You have only offered broken promises of the worst kind and in the mean time with all your crafty finance skills could not even bother to crunch the numbers of a Nation with a surplus of money and make the 0.7 percent aid program fit into Canadas budget! This is either sheer laziness or of no care or concern of the Liberal parties agenda maybe you were just interested in easy cash for you and your cronies! Let the record speak for itself Mr. Paul Martin there is still 45 million dollars of money that is still not accounted for from within the Liberal adscam accounting frauds that Mr. Gomery has proven to exist but has magically disappeared within the Liberal accountability practices! And I for one would like to see the financials of how the past 3 years worth of Developmental Aid has been spent, processed and allocated not including hurricane Rita or the Tsunami disaster Relief efforts either. As a Canadian citizen I dont mind paying my taxes and Im sure most other Canadian citizens and Businesses would have no qualms either about seeing their Canadian government making room for numbers for developmental aid amounting to 0.7 percent of the countries GDP! As Canada is headed into a federal election to vote on their future I strongly tell my fellow Canadians your not just voting on your future but on the future lives of millions of people who are living on less than $1 a day! Canada is in the best position of all the developed countries to contribute to developmental Aid, why you might ask? Canada is the only country in the G8 with a surplus of money. Also fellow Canadians who might be reading this or if you have a Canadian friend please forward this to them'! CANADA FOR THE 97TH TIME HAS CREATED THE 0.7% developmental aid plan that in the first place under Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was created to assure that developed countries would help lesser developed counties and give the measly crumbs of 0.7% of its total GDP to developing countries so to eliminate extreme poverty and make the world a safer and cleaner place for all. As extreme poverty of developing nations does effect people of all nations either directly or indirectly, developed or undeveloped, this is a time for Canada to show some concern and Interdependence! So lets not be twice bitten!