By Dene Moore
MONTREAL (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada will be as green as Canadians want it to be.
Harper, who is poised for a possible federal election this spring, reiterated Thursday that his government will announce mandatory targets to reduce emissions in the coming weeks. "Canada will, for the first time ever, create national, mandatory emissions targets for greenhouse gases and air pollution across major industrial sectors," Harper told delegates at an environmental trade show in Montreal.
Harper said consumption must be balanced with conservation.
"Yet, no population of any country will support an environmental plan that robs them of their jobs and destroys their living standards, even in the short term," Harper said.
The prime minister said the government has an important role to play in resolving the current environmental crisis.
"But business and government can only do so much," Harper said.
"In the long run, Canada will be as green as Canadians want it to be."
Harper praised Canada as one of the world's great energy powers and said with that comes great environmental responsibility.
"Canada must be not merely an energy superpower but a clean energy superpower," Harper told delegates.
Polls show the environment was among the most important issues to Canadians and the minority Conservative government has undergone a green revolution since taking power.
Last month, Harper announced a $1.5 billion eco trust fund to help provinces pay for environmental projects and his Conservative government tabled its own Clean Air Act.
Now the act is stalled in the House of Commons, threatening to trigger the spring election.
All three federal opposition parties want amendments to the act before they will help it pass in the House of Commons.
Chief among the demands is that the bill enshrine the emissions targets set out in the Kyoto protocol, which the Conservatives have rejected as impossible to achieve.
The only reduction target included in the bill is a 40-to-60 per cent emissions cut by 2050.
If Harper makes the Clean Air Act a confidence vote, Canadians will go to the polls.
Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press
MONTREAL (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada will be as green as Canadians want it to be.
Harper, who is poised for a possible federal election this spring, reiterated Thursday that his government will announce mandatory targets to reduce emissions in the coming weeks. "Canada will, for the first time ever, create national, mandatory emissions targets for greenhouse gases and air pollution across major industrial sectors," Harper told delegates at an environmental trade show in Montreal.
Harper said consumption must be balanced with conservation.
"Yet, no population of any country will support an environmental plan that robs them of their jobs and destroys their living standards, even in the short term," Harper said.
The prime minister said the government has an important role to play in resolving the current environmental crisis.
"But business and government can only do so much," Harper said.
"In the long run, Canada will be as green as Canadians want it to be."
Harper praised Canada as one of the world's great energy powers and said with that comes great environmental responsibility.
"Canada must be not merely an energy superpower but a clean energy superpower," Harper told delegates.
Polls show the environment was among the most important issues to Canadians and the minority Conservative government has undergone a green revolution since taking power.
Last month, Harper announced a $1.5 billion eco trust fund to help provinces pay for environmental projects and his Conservative government tabled its own Clean Air Act.
Now the act is stalled in the House of Commons, threatening to trigger the spring election.
All three federal opposition parties want amendments to the act before they will help it pass in the House of Commons.
Chief among the demands is that the bill enshrine the emissions targets set out in the Kyoto protocol, which the Conservatives have rejected as impossible to achieve.
The only reduction target included in the bill is a 40-to-60 per cent emissions cut by 2050.
If Harper makes the Clean Air Act a confidence vote, Canadians will go to the polls.
Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press
