Prime Minister Paul Martin speaking at the UN climate change conference in Montreal on Wednesday.

Martin faces questions over campaign plane

Updated Wed. Dec. 7 2005 11:32 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

While Prime Minister Paul Martin was making an address on climate change at a UN conference in Montreal, the Conservative party was challenging his credibility on the subject, saying there is clearly a "gap between Mr. Martin's rhetoric and his actions."

In a press released entitled "Reality Check," the Conservative party blasted the Liberal leader for flying in a Boeing 727.

"Liberal Leader Paul Martin flew in to Montreal today to boast about his clean air record. Um, but he flew in quite the gas guzzler! Paul Martin is jetting around in a Boeing 727 - one of the world's noisiest and most environmentally unfriendly aircraft," the press release reads.

"Conversely, the Conservative campaign plane is an Airbus 320 -- widely respected for its low greenhouse gas emissions and noise control."

The Conservatives cite a report from the European Commission that says "The noise level of an Airbus 320 is around 20 dB less than that of a Caravelle or Boeing 727 40 years ago."

The release also cites a 2004 Globe and Mail article that reports statistics released by the Air Transport Association of Canada reveal the Boeing 727 burns 1,289 gallons of fuel per hour, compared with the Airbus 320 which burns just over half that amount, at 767 gallons per hour.

A spokesperson for Air Transport Association of Canada told CTV.ca that "Clearly, older aircraft such as the Boeing 727 are not as environmentally efficient as newer models, like the Airbus A320 but the entire aviation community in Canada is committed to work towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including both companies involved in these election charters."

Martin was defiant when asked about the fuel efficiency of the plane.

"This is a plane like any other plane. The only way to travel across a country like Canada is to travel by plane, and I suppose we could poll press members who are travelling with me whether they'd like to cross the country by bus," he told reporters.

"But the fact is that we all know that we have to make all means of transportation more sustainable and save energy. And I have to say that I don't take your question lightly. I think this is important. There are a lot of things currently in place we have to change, and certainly the fact that we're wasting energy through transportation -- that's one of them."

Later Wednesday, when asked again about the plane, Martin conceded there was room for improvement.

"The fact is that that these are chartered planes ... what you are saying is there are more fuel-efficient planes that we could have chartered. I suppose that's something that we would look at."

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