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
Jeff Watson is the current Conservative MP who represents Essex, which is the region just outside Windsor's borders. BTW, he was an autoworker at the DaimlerChrysler Assembly Plant in Windsor (and a CAW member) before becoming elected. Not any help from Buzz of course.
In Windsor-Tecumseh (Eastern Area of Windsor) Rick Fuschi is the venerable Conservative candidate. Also a CAW member and employee at the DaimlerChrysler Assembly Plant in Windsor.
Seems like Buzz Hargrove has plenty of representation in Windsor.... Only it's not of the Collectivist/create clients out of citizens kind.
I'm all for global warming in the Great White North. Maybe you guys would stop sending your arctic cold fronts down out way : )
I'm all for global warming in the Great White North. Maybe you guys would stop sending your arctic cold fronts down our way : )
Sounds like the Dimrat party in this country....
Basically, they "can't see the forest for the trees, but that doesn't matter, they like trees."
All Harper has to do is say: "If you don't like it, call for a non-confidence vote and another election. We'll see who has the last laugh!"
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