Details of the private talks, which come ahead of new air quality standards due to be announced this month, would not be revealed, she said.

But Ambrose said Friday the new regulations would force deep cuts in air pollution and greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

"The time is over for politely asking big companies that are polluting to do the right thing," Ambrose told broadcaster CTV in an exclusive interview, saying the legislation would include penalties for infractions.

"We know from looking at what the past government has done over the last 13 years that informational programs and asking them to do the right thing is not sufficient," she said.

Any emissions regulations for cars and trucks would be the first imposed on auto makers in Canada.

In 1981, Ottawa passed legislation regulating emissions, but it never became law.

Instead, car companies agreed to follow Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards set by the United States if lawmakers backed off the legislation.

Currently, the auto manufacturers follow a voluntary plan, proposed by the previous Liberal government two years ago, to reduce total emissions by five percent by 2012.

Canadian auto workers union president Buzz Hargrove warned that stricter mandatory emissions rules would hurt the Canadian auto industry, which typically builds bigger cars, and favor Japanese and South Korean auto makers.

"Twenty-nine percent of vehicles sold in Canada are small vehicles ... But our production, our jobs rely on the big vehicles sold in the United States," he told public broadcaster CBC, pointing to General Motors' new Camaro to be built in Oshawa, Ontario.

"My major concern is we're going to turn more of our industry over to the Japanese and Koreans," he said.

"They have this incredible production of small cars available to fill the gap if we're dumb enough to put regulations in place that require, in spite of consumers, that small cars are going to dominate."

Johanne Gelinas, commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Office of the Auditor General, said in a report released Thursday that Canada must realize "a massive scale-up of efforts" to fight global warming, including big emissions cuts in Canada's transportation, and oil and gas sectors.

Canada had agreed under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to six percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

But in 2004, the emissions were 26.6 percent above 1990 levels, despite 6.3 billion Canadian dollars (5.7 billion US) spent by the previous Liberal government on climate change measures since 1997, Gelinas found.

Smog alerts have also increased dramatically in major Canadian cities in recent decades.

Ambrose held consultations with oil and gas industry executives in Alberta province last week and plans more meetings with stakeholders in the coming weeks, Haggarty said.

earlier related report
Italy raises taxes on SUVs, luxury cars
Rome (AFP) Oct 03 - Italian owners of luxury cars and sports utility vehicles will face a huge increase in the annual auto tax next year as part of a government bid to rein in the budget deficit and reduce pollution.

Vehicles weighing more than 2,600 kilos (5,700 pounds) and certain luxury cars will be subject to higher taxes depending on their power, amounting to nearly double the current rates.

The fee for a Jeep Cherokee, for example, will rise from 412 euros to 732 euros (933 dollars). That for a Mercedes SUV will rise to 1,030 euros, while a Toyota Land Cruiser will be charged 687 euros.

A Rolls Royce Phantom's tax burden will rise from 872 to 1,548 euros, while a Mercedes limousine will cost its owner 1,740 euros next year, from 980 euros.

The tax rise comes as vehicle registrations have fallen for a third consecutive month in Italy, shrinking 3.24 percent in September compared with the same month last year.

The center-left government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi aims to trim Italy's budget deficit by some 33 billion dollars in 2007.

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