NDP leader Jack Layton tabled a private member's bill Tuesday that he says will allow Canadians to see action on climate change within their lifetime.
If the NDP bill passes, it would call for the rapid regulation of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
“The Prime Minister's Clean Air Act is dead in the water,” Mr. Layton said at a press conference in Ottawa Tuesday. “With it, pollution will go up, not down.”
The Conservative's environmental plan has been widely panned by the opposition parties and environmental groups alike for not going far enough, and would not likely win the support of the House of Commons in its current state. The Tories' climate change bill replaces Canada's commitment under the international Kyoto Protocol to start reducing greenhouse gases by 2008 with a new target to cut such emissions by half of 2003 levels by 2050.
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NDP Leader Jack Layton says the Conservative government’s much-anticipated Green Plan is dead in the water and without it Canada is facing the century’s biggest environmental crisis without a plan. Layton made the comments during a news conference in Ottawa, Tuesday (CP)
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The NDP's so-called Climate Change Accountability Act introduced Tuesday sets interim and long-term greenhouse gas emissions targets, and instructs the government to pursue these objectives in its international negotiations. It also calls on the Environment Commissioner to report regularly the House on the government's progress in meeting these targets.
In the short term, the NDP bill would require the government set short-term targets within the next six months, implement them within and year, and then update those targets every five years. After that, the act also legislates a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 25-per-cent reduction by 2020, and, over the longer term, it calls for an 80-per-cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2050.
The NDP's bill comes on the heels of a British report released Monday that warned climate change threatens to devastate the world economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression. Mr. Layton said the British report should act as a “wake up call” for the Conservative government, and that the legislation he introduced Tuesday would provide a guideline for action.
“With this bill, Canadians will see action on climate change in their lifetime. Canadians will no longer have to hold their breath waiting for the politicians to take action,” Mr. Layton said.
Both the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois joined the chorus in criticizing the government on its environmental plan during Question Period Tuesday.
The Prime Minister, however, reiterated his confidence in the Clean Air Act.
“The reality is that we will have targets for greenhouse gases and for pollution next year. We will have targets for both. We will have greenhouse gas reductions for Canada and national mandatory targets,” Mr. Harper said Tuesday.
Mr. Layton is scheduled to meet with Mr. Harper Tuesday afternoon to discuss the issue. The two will to try to find common ground over the Conservative government's controversial environmental legislation.
The move is reminiscent of one taken by the NDP in the last Parliamentary session, when they propped up the then-Liberal minority government after negotiating $4.6-billion worth of social spending into the federal budget. The NDP then campaigned on their ability to negotiate those concessions.
The Tories and the NDP combined, have more votes in the House than the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois, 153 to 151 respectively. But, a Tory-NDP alliance would also have to win the support of one of the two independent MPs sitting in the House in order pass any legislation.
“For 13 years and nine months, the Liberals and Conservatives have been bickering and dithering while the air that everyday Canadians breathe simply became dirtier and dirtier. This is just plain unacceptable,” Mr. Layton said.
“That's why I made an offer yesterday to the Prime Minister to sit down together and come up with a plan to tackle climate change that could actually pass this House.”
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If the NDP bill passes, it would call for the rapid regulation of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
“The Prime Minister's Clean Air Act is dead in the water,” Mr. Layton said at a press conference in Ottawa Tuesday. “With it, pollution will go up, not down.”
The Conservative's environmental plan has been widely panned by the opposition parties and environmental groups alike for not going far enough, and would not likely win the support of the House of Commons in its current state. The Tories' climate change bill replaces Canada's commitment under the international Kyoto Protocol to start reducing greenhouse gases by 2008 with a new target to cut such emissions by half of 2003 levels by 2050.
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The NDP's so-called Climate Change Accountability Act introduced Tuesday sets interim and long-term greenhouse gas emissions targets, and instructs the government to pursue these objectives in its international negotiations. It also calls on the Environment Commissioner to report regularly the House on the government's progress in meeting these targets.
In the short term, the NDP bill would require the government set short-term targets within the next six months, implement them within and year, and then update those targets every five years. After that, the act also legislates a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 25-per-cent reduction by 2020, and, over the longer term, it calls for an 80-per-cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2050.
The NDP's bill comes on the heels of a British report released Monday that warned climate change threatens to devastate the world economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression. Mr. Layton said the British report should act as a “wake up call” for the Conservative government, and that the legislation he introduced Tuesday would provide a guideline for action.
“With this bill, Canadians will see action on climate change in their lifetime. Canadians will no longer have to hold their breath waiting for the politicians to take action,” Mr. Layton said.
Both the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois joined the chorus in criticizing the government on its environmental plan during Question Period Tuesday.
The Prime Minister, however, reiterated his confidence in the Clean Air Act.
“The reality is that we will have targets for greenhouse gases and for pollution next year. We will have targets for both. We will have greenhouse gas reductions for Canada and national mandatory targets,” Mr. Harper said Tuesday.
Mr. Layton is scheduled to meet with Mr. Harper Tuesday afternoon to discuss the issue. The two will to try to find common ground over the Conservative government's controversial environmental legislation.
The move is reminiscent of one taken by the NDP in the last Parliamentary session, when they propped up the then-Liberal minority government after negotiating $4.6-billion worth of social spending into the federal budget. The NDP then campaigned on their ability to negotiate those concessions.
The Tories and the NDP combined, have more votes in the House than the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois, 153 to 151 respectively. But, a Tory-NDP alliance would also have to win the support of one of the two independent MPs sitting in the House in order pass any legislation.
“For 13 years and nine months, the Liberals and Conservatives have been bickering and dithering while the air that everyday Canadians breathe simply became dirtier and dirtier. This is just plain unacceptable,” Mr. Layton said.
“That's why I made an offer yesterday to the Prime Minister to sit down together and come up with a plan to tackle climate change that could actually pass this House.”
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