Saying "let's wait until we have a plan," Chretien declined to comment on front-page reports that appeared this week in the Globe and Mail and National Post newspapers. The reports said that the figures on Kyoto's impact were in draft documents prepared for the federal cabinet.

"We have to do it in a rational way, making sure that the right thing is done and at the same time that the economy has to grow," Chretien said.

Under the 1997 Kyoto accord, Canada is committed to cutting emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, believed to cause global warming, to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

The burning of fossil fuels is a main source of greenhouse gases and implementing Kyoto standards is expected to have a big impact on Canada's oil and gas and industrial sectors.

Quoting unnamed sources, the newspapers said pro-Kyoto officials deleted the 200,000 job loss estimate from the final version of the briefing document presented to cabinet. Canada has a labor force of 16.7 million, of which 15.5 million are actually employed.

The sources also maintained that Kyoto could hurt Canada's C$1.1 trillion economy by 1.5 percent by 2010. Estimates by some business groups and the provincial government in oil-rich Alberta estimate the impact much higher-at C$30 billion to C$40 billion in lost economic growth and some 450,000 in job losses.

HALIFAX MEETING ON KYOTO

Stephen Harper, leader of the Canadian Alliance, the official opposition in the Canadian Parliament, quickly denounced the Chretien government over its handling of the Kyoto ratification process, saying it was concealing "even what are fairly modest cost estimates."

"I think it's beyond the pale. There's got to be some pretty angry people in cabinet to have learned this," Harper said.

In a move that has delighted environmentalists and health advocates, Chretien recently pledged to put the Kyoto accord to a vote this year in the House of Commons, where his Liberal Party holds a strong majority.

But those opposed to Kyoto say the federal government appears set to ratify the accord without a detailed plan on mitigating its impacts on the Canadian economy.

This week, Chretien said Ottawa would come up with a plan, but he did not offer details.

"We have to work with the provinces and we have to work with the different sectors to make sure that this operation will be done in such a way that that economy will not suffer," he said.

Federal and provincial officials are to meet in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Oct. 21 to discuss the Kyoto accord.

Alberta, Canada's top oil and gas producing province, has embarked on a major publicity campaign aimed at blocking Canada's ratification of Kyoto, saying the international pact would cripple the energy sector and suck billions of dollars from the economy.

Opponents of the accord say Canada would suffer even more economically because the United States, its biggest trading partner and both a key energy customer and competitor, has backed away from ratifying Kyoto.

Ernie Eves, premier of Ontario, Canada's most populated and industrialized province, said he hopes Kyoto will not hurt jobs.