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Canada's auto makers as well as consumers are keen to see new fuel economy standards applied on a national basis, says federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon.

"Industry and the average Canadian, they all want to have a national standard," Mr. Cannon said this morning at the unveiling of a 60-day consultation process aimed at developing a fuel-economy target by 2020.

The goal is a target that "achieves at a minimum" recently enacted legislation in the U.S. Congress calling for auto makers' fleets to average 35 miles per gallon, or 6.7 litres per 100 kilometres, by the year 2020.

Mr. Cannon conceded that some provinces have struck out with their own fuel-economy programs but said he believes a common standard can be worked out in the talks.

Quebec, for example, has said it wants to move to more stringent standards such as those being proposed in California

But Mr. Cannon pointed out that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a court challenge against the California measures and that it makes more sense to use the U.S. Congress legislation as the benchmark. The new U.S. standard falls well short of the regulations proposed by California.

Dubbed the "Turning the Corner" plan, the fuel-economy consultation process is aimed at developing "an integrated, nationally consistent approach to reducing air pollution and greenhouse gases in order to protect the health and environment of Canadians," Mr. Cannon said at a press conference at the Montreal International Auto Show.

The new U.S. regulation is called the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard. The standard falls well short of those proposed by California, which is battling the administration of President George W. Bush over its right to implement regulations to cut greenhouse-gas emissions that would lead to more dramatic fuel-efficiency gains.

While the Conservatives prefer rules based on the dominant U.S. standard, in recognition of the fact that there is a North American marketplace, Quebec and several other provinces have already pledged to adopt California standards, as have 13 other U.S. states.

However, Ontario — home of major assembly plants — has opposed the California approach or its adoption by other provinces, saying there should be one national rule.

"For Canada to adopt the CAFE standard, which President Bush supports, means taking the slow lane in addressing climate change," said Pierre Sadik of the David Suzuki Foundation. "The California standard means getting to a solution much faster."

John Bennett, of Climateforchange.ca, said provinces such as Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia will likely still go ahead with California standards even if Ottawa does not.

Mr. Bennett argued that Canadians would save billions of dollars worth of gasoline if governments impose the tougher standard.

"If what they announce is anything less than California standards, then they are costing Canadian drivers a fortune in fuel and they're not taking the environmental problems that they are trying to solve seriously," he said.

He complained the U.S. standard does not contain intermediate targets that auto makers would have to achieve prior to 2020.

However, industry officials - particularly North American car makers whose most popular models tend to be heavier and more powerful than imports - have said they face challenges to meet even the new U.S. rules.

Toyota Canada Inc. president Yoichi Tomihara told reporters in Windsor, Ont., on Monday that Toyota will meet that regulation if Ottawa puts it in place.

While auto makers have agreed to meet that target, they say it will be difficult.

The 35-mile-per-gallon figure is the fuel economy rating of the smallest subcompact car on the road in Canada, one auto industry source said yesterday. So reaching that average across a fleet that encompasses pickup trucks, gas-guzzling large sport utility vehicles, sports cars and large sedans requires spending of billions of dollars on new technology.

General Motors Corp. president Rick Wagoner said in Detroit this week that his company is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to drive innovation in fuel efficiency.

But, Mr. Wagoner said Ottawa's feebate scheme introduced in last February's federal budget has been a "disaster." That program offers rebates for buyers of the most fuel-efficient vehicles - typically smaller imported cars - and imposed a fee on the least efficient.

Quebec will regulate tailpipe emissions by establishing a vehicle's average fuel consumption and converting that into carbon emissions.

With files from BILL CURRY and GREG KEENAN