Canadian Environmental Politics

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

I'm not sure how much airtime CNN gives to arcane Canadian parliamentary goings-on, so you may not have heard about what happened yesterday:

The Conservative government has been backed into a constitutional corner after the passage of an opposition bill in the House of Commons last night calling for Canada to meet its Kyoto targets.

Bill C-288 would force Environment Minister John Baird to present a climate change plan within 60 days, providing a map for Canada to meet Kyoto's greenhouse gas reduction targets. The treaty calls for emission levels at 6 per cent below 1990 levels – a drastic reduction from current levels.

Within three months of the bill's passage into law, the federal cabinet would have to set out regulations on the petroleum and auto sectors, and other polluters, to have them meet their Kyoto targets.

If no action is taken, individual Canadians, environmental groups, lawyers – anyone – could take the federal government to court for being afoul of the law, said Montreal Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez, the sponsor of the private member's bill.

full story here: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/182024

My thoughts:
- this bill probably will be ignored by the Conservative government
- if that happens, the minority government opens itself up to a justifiable non-confidence motion in a few months*
- the Conservatives may call an election before that to avoid a campaign where the environment (and their failings on it) gets major focus


*I think there's a general disdain in Canada for going to the polls "just 'cause"... especially if it's likely to produce another minority election - and all the parties realize this.  Putting a stop to a government that's acting improperly is a whole other kettle of fish, though.

[Griffin NoName]

Not so arcane? It is a world issue. I wish they'd disseminate this kind of stuff as widely as is needed.

Yesterday TBLiar came a cropper with the Germans on not being radical enough according to BBC TV News. Strangely tho, I cannot find the item on the BBC website today.

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

Personally, I'm disappointed with my government.

The current bunch want to do nothing and have said so loudly in the past.  They're also scrapped a number of good programs.  They have made a few announcements on the environment in the past few weeks, but the impact is very small, and they really only did them because they had a knife to their throat (being in a minority situation, and therefore subject to the whims of the other parties).

In contrast, the last bunch made a bit of noise on the environment and did sign Kyoto, but didn't actually do a whole lot.

Part of me is glad that they're trying to force the hand of the Conservatives and get something happening... but the other part of me sees it as hypocritical on the part of the Liberals, and likely something that they're doing to score political points without any intent to do anything, yet again.

[Griffin NoName]

Part of me is glad that they're trying to force the hand of the Conservatives and get something happening... but the other part of me sees it as hypocritical on the part of the Liberals, and likely something that they're doing to score political points without any intent to do anything, yet again.

There's a lot of that going on here; impossible to tell really who is sincere and who is merelty polictically motivated. In the end, I don't see it will make much difference but it is an opportunity for the World to work together for the common good (as is poverty etc etc). That's the aspect that inspires me.

[Griffin NoName]

Part of me is glad that they're trying to force the hand of the Conservatives and get something happening... but the other part of me sees it as hypocritical on the part of the Liberals, and likely something that they're doing to score political points without any intent to do anything, yet again.

There's a lot of that going on here; impossible to tell really who is sincere and who is merelty polictically motivated. In the end, I don't see it will make much difference but it is an opportunity for the World to work together for the common good (as is poverty etc etc). That's the aspect that inspires me.

I am totally fed up with the media presenting it as TBliar's legacy issue; have no idea if it is just the media or TBliar himself. His legacy is going to be Iraq anyway.

[Aggie]

I'm surprised this got a small, mid-paper mention out here, since any meaningful emissions cuts have to target Alberta industry.  The Conservatives in particular don't want to mess with the oil industry.  Should be interesting to see what falls out of this one.

And, for the record, I LIKE minority governments. Just not all the damned elections that go with them. Legislation must appeal to multiple parties to get passed, otherwise it's just Canadian Inaction As Usual.

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

I'm surprised this got a small, mid-paper mention out here, since any meaningful emissions cuts have to target Alberta industry.  The Conservatives in particular don't want to mess with the oil industry.  Should be interesting to see what falls out of this one.

It seems like it's a given that the government is just going to ignore this law once it's passed, so it wouldn't directly have an effect on any emissions.

I think this bill has more to do with painting the Conservatives as the "bad guys" before an election than any real action on environment.  But if it gets people talking about environmental issues during the election, I'll be happy with the result.