Harper's response:
here comes the popular surge
... and hardly 'slight' as CP & the red Star claim
and with the bulk coming in battleground Ontario.
Also see:
Why Stephane Dion is unfit to lead this country
Lost in translation
Posted on 02/09/2007 11:54:04 AM PST by GMMAC
Kyoto bill may force election
Government would be tied to stringent targets
John Ivison with files from Katie Rook
National Post, Friday, February 09, 2007
OTTAWA - A Liberal-sponsored bill that would legally require the Conservative government to abide by the Kyoto protocol's short-term targets will be debated for the final time in the House of Commons today, before going to a vote next week when it is all but guaranteed to pass.
Constitutional experts say the implications of passing the bill could see Prime Minister Stephen Harper forced to choose between implementing measures to meet Kyoto targets he has called unrealistic or calling a general election.
The Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act is a private member's bill sponsored by Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez. It calls on Canada to meet its Kyoto commitment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 6% below 1990 levels by 2012.
The Conservatives maintain these targets cannot be met without drastically disrupting the economy, but a coalition of opposition parties has pushed the bill to third reading today. If it passes a vote next week -- which looks assured since it has the support of the Liberals, NDP and the Bloc Quebecois --it will head to the Liberal-dominated Senate, where it is likely to be given swift passage.
The Conservatives fought the bill as it proceeded through successive readings, claiming that if it were passed it would require new spending, something a private member's bill cannot initiate. However, Speaker of the House Peter Milliken ruled yesterday that the bill does not constitute spending for a new and distinct purpose and can proceed to final reading.
Patrick Monahan, dean of Osgoode Hall Law School and a renowned constitutional lawyer, said that the bill, if passed, would legally bind the government to meet its Kyoto obligations. "I don't see how the government would be able to ignore it. It seems to me it will pose a significant problem for the government," he said. "This is significant and far-reaching -- much more far-reaching than most private member's bills."
He said he was not clear what options the Prime Minister will have if the bill passes, although calling an election is one possibility.
The bill requires the government to table a plan of action within 60 days of its passage.
The plan would then be submitted to the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, an independent agency chaired by former Winnipeg mayor and Liberal candidate, Glen Murray.
The government would then be obliged to publish the agency's adjudication and act upon it.
The tightly worded bill binds the government to a number of measures, including provision for a "just transition of workers affected by greenhouse gas emission reductions."
Experts have suggested that job losses would inevitably result from any attempt to reach Kyoto's targets, as power plant output and oilsands production are reined in to reduce emissions.
Mr. Rodriguez said he is not suggesting how the Conservatives should meet the Kyoto targets. "They are in power. They wanted to run the country, so they have to take the responsibility," he said.
He denied that the targets were impossible to meet. "It's going to be difficult but still possible. There are options -- we have the cap and trade solution, or we could invest in valid green projects [overseas]. It's up to [the government] to decide," he said.
Mr. Rodriguez's bill is one of a series of opposition motions in recent months that have attempted to portray the minority- government Tories as unconcerned about climate change, but it is the first to carry apparently binding measures.
John Baird, the Environment Minister, yesterday told the legislative committee amending the government's Clean Air Act that meeting the Kyoto targets would risk economic collapse.
"To achieve that kind of target through domestic reductions would require a rate of emissions decline unmatched by any modern nation in the history of the world,'' he said. "Except those who have suffered economic collapse, such as Russia.''
The potential cost of meeting the targets has caused serious concern among opponents. In an interview with the Post yesterday, Canadian Auto Workers union president Buzz Hargrove said he supports the Kyoto accord but stressed that changes have to be introduced gradually.
"If somebody were to come out tomorrow and say you have to reach the objective that was laid out initially immediately, you'd almost have to shut down every major industry in the country from oil and gas to the airlines to the auto industry and that just doesn't make sense," he said.
jivison@nationalpost.com
© National Post 2007
Harper's response:
here comes the popular surge
... and hardly 'slight' as CP & the red Star claim
and with the bulk coming in battleground Ontario.
Also see:
Why Stephane Dion is unfit to lead this country
Lost in translation
PING!
In Toronto, the infrastructure for public transportation crumbles. The unions strike. And the Liberals want us to give up our cars?
Gotta love the spin the Scar put on the poll result- 38-31 a "slight" lead? LMAO!
Regards, Ivan
Sounds like a winning strategy for the radical left.
If PM Harper enforces Kyoto the economy will tank and
he`ll be blamed. If he doesn`t enforce Kyoto he`ll be
blamed.
Call an election on the issue and he`ll be demagoged
the way he was before. Remember? " He`s got a secret
agenda, WATCH OUT ! "
If any country would benefit from global warming, Canada would.
With longer growing seasons, they can produce more corn-based ethanol, and warmer Winters (it's about 15F outside now) less energy is needed.
This is purely an outsider's view, but
"Rodriquez admits that this bill being pushed through has nothing to do with the environment or Kyoto or even Canadians. It expressed purpose is to stick it to the Conservative party and anything that it does to Canada is worth it in their opinion even if it destroys the economy"
should be writ out large on as many long, stout sticks as Canadian Conservatives can find and then used to beat the living crap out of their opponents. All of them, including the media bums.
Those pukes are down to the last pile of chips, and it's time to send 'em home in their skivvys.
Pablo Rodriguez another Liberal Half-Canadian, dual Argentine citizenship.
Represents a riding in the eastern part of Montreal where the main occupation is manufacturing.
Also, didn't the provence of Alberta tell the national government to bit its oil rich ass, they weren't doing a damn thing to meet Kyoto obligations?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"... it's been quite awhile since a Conservative MP was elected in Windsor ... snicker!"
Yes it has...and apparently we have a very strong candidate lined up for Windsor-West. I believe we will still have the venerable Rick Fuschi in the other Windsor riding (Windsor-East?) and MP...why can't I remember his name...from Windsor-Essex.
Unfortunately I am half way across the globe right now and wont' be able to help out this time around. I am missing two elections while I'm gone, the potential Federal election, and the Provincial one slated for the Fall. Oh well...c'est la vie. Go Blue! (Yes, Michigan and Conservatives ;))
Moron he is but then what would we call a people that continue to vote in these useless morons. If we are going to hand out blame we better start by looking closer to home. There was a time when ordinary people accomplished extraordinary things. Not any more we are too busy whining about it to get off our collective butts and make things happen. If there are morons in power it's not because they just wandered in off the street....no, we put them there. Canadians this week have to put down the remote and contact their MP....take to the streets and make it known that this act is lunacy. Unhappy though they are I somehow won't hold my breath waiting on this.
I agree with you completely. Well said.
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