Canada House to try to force Kyoto compliance
Source: Reuters
OTTAWA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The Canadian House of Commons was poised on Wednesday to pass a bill designed to force the minority Conservative government to achieve the steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions required by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. It was the latest in a series of initiatives in Parliament to push the government to take tougher action to fight global warming but, unlike previous nonbinding motions, this would carry the force of law if it eventually passes all stages. "He is not over the law," the bill's Liberal author, Pablo Rodriguez, said of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The bill would require the government to prepare a plan within 60 days that describes the measures Canada will take to meet its Kyoto obligation to reduce greenhouse gases to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Canada's emissions are 27 percent above 1990 levels and the government has said it would be impossible to meet the targets without doing great damage to the economy. Mark Warawa, parliamentary secretary to Environment Minister John Baird, said Rodriguez had put forward "an empty bill with no teeth". Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said the Liberals were simply trying to embarrass the government by trying to force draconian steps that would paralyze Canada. "If we took drastic measures to the point that companies had to close, that would not be right," he told reporters. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said: "This kind of bill is the usual sort of political posturing that is done not in realistic assessment of the economic consequences for Canadians and Canadian families but rather as posturing to try and score some perceived political points." Privately, many opposition politicians acknowledge that it may be close to impossible now to cut a quarter of Canada's emissions in the space of several years. A reporter asked the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff, if it was still possible to meet the targets. "You've got to roll up your sleeves and make an effort," he replied. All three opposition parties support Rodriguez's bill. After passage in the House, it has to go to the unelected Senate, where a Liberal majority should ensure its passage if there is no election before then. (Additional reporting by Louise Egan)
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