Prime Minister Stephen Harper has told Parliament Wednesday he will take the Clean Air Act to a committee before its second reading, paving the way for opposition parties to amend the act that was almost universally panned last month.
Denying the Conservatives had been in “a stand-off” with the NDP, Mr. Harper said in Wednesday's Question Period that the House leaders would now decide the best way to proceed on the issue that earlier this week looked like it could bring down the minority government.
NDP leader Jack Layton had threatened to pull the Harper government down with the Clean Air Act, saying on Tuesday that he would put a confidence motion before the Commons on Thursday if Mr. Harper refused to send the bill to committee without a vote so that all parties could work to improve it.
Earlier on Wednesday, the NDP said it would drop that attempt to instead take up the Tory's concession to allow the Clean Air Act to be altered by MPs in a committee.
Related to this article
Articles
Mr. Layton said his party will attempt to amend the government bill so that it forces Canadian industry to comply with the Kyoto Protocol's deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, even though the government has said Kyoto would be a disaster for Canada's economy.
“Our caucus liked the fact that there seemed to be some progress in response to our initiative and therefore we're going to stay on that track here today and see if we can't actually accomplish something,” Mr. Layton told reporters following a morning meeting with his MPs.
The bill will now go through the unusual step of being reviewed by a committee open to all parties before going to a second reading.
A spokesman for Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said it was yet to be decided exactly what form the committee would take.
Critics of the bill are expected to conduct a massive overhaul because they believe the Clean Air Act does not do enough to slow global warming.
The move appears to forestall an immediate confrontation in the Commons, though it is not clear how willing the government will be to see a piece of showcase legislation gutted.
On Tuesday, Mr. Layton tabled a private members bill called the Clean Air Accountability Act, calling for a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions to 80 per cent of 1990 levels and a six-month consultation phase to set interim targets every five years, starting in 2015.
The Government's Clean Air Act sets a greenhouse-gas reduction target of 45 to 65 per cent of 2003 levels, with absolute reductions starting in 2020.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061101.wcleanair1101/BNStory/National/home
Denying the Conservatives had been in “a stand-off” with the NDP, Mr. Harper said in Wednesday's Question Period that the House leaders would now decide the best way to proceed on the issue that earlier this week looked like it could bring down the minority government.
NDP leader Jack Layton had threatened to pull the Harper government down with the Clean Air Act, saying on Tuesday that he would put a confidence motion before the Commons on Thursday if Mr. Harper refused to send the bill to committee without a vote so that all parties could work to improve it.
Earlier on Wednesday, the NDP said it would drop that attempt to instead take up the Tory's concession to allow the Clean Air Act to be altered by MPs in a committee.
Related to this article
Articles
- PM to consider changing bill
- Change clean-air bill or face Commons vote, Layton tells Tories
- NDP tables bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions
- Isn't it time we revamped parliament by reforming our electoral...
- Good work by the NDP to not let this awful piece of legislation...
- It's now up to the opposition parties to bring something constructive...
- Looks like the neo-con supporters must be biting their lips as...
- 68 reader comments | Join the conversation
Mr. Layton said his party will attempt to amend the government bill so that it forces Canadian industry to comply with the Kyoto Protocol's deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, even though the government has said Kyoto would be a disaster for Canada's economy.
“Our caucus liked the fact that there seemed to be some progress in response to our initiative and therefore we're going to stay on that track here today and see if we can't actually accomplish something,” Mr. Layton told reporters following a morning meeting with his MPs.
The bill will now go through the unusual step of being reviewed by a committee open to all parties before going to a second reading.
A spokesman for Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said it was yet to be decided exactly what form the committee would take.
Critics of the bill are expected to conduct a massive overhaul because they believe the Clean Air Act does not do enough to slow global warming.
The move appears to forestall an immediate confrontation in the Commons, though it is not clear how willing the government will be to see a piece of showcase legislation gutted.
On Tuesday, Mr. Layton tabled a private members bill called the Clean Air Accountability Act, calling for a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions to 80 per cent of 1990 levels and a six-month consultation phase to set interim targets every five years, starting in 2015.
The Government's Clean Air Act sets a greenhouse-gas reduction target of 45 to 65 per cent of 2003 levels, with absolute reductions starting in 2020.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061101.wcleanair1101/BNStory/National/home
