Despite the resistance by the tories, Canada’s House of Commons passed 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.
MPs have voted in favour of a Liberal bill that requires the government to meet international Kyoto targets. 60 days have been given by the bill to the government to table a detailed plan for meeting the Kyoto targets.
Bill C-288 is expected to be approved by the Senate and become the law but the government is totally against it and will not pay much attention. The bill compels the government to set fines and jail terms for the industries and businesses which over-pollute.
The Federal Government has strongly hinted it will ignore the law and elections can be triggered.
The tories have offered tax credits for public transit users and have announced that they will spend $1.5 billion for supporting provincial green initiatives.
The move comes after they killed a host of pro-Kyoto initiatives created by the previous Liberal government – which failed to halt a steep climb in carbon emissions.
Several constitutional experts have said the Conservatives must respect the law.
Tories tried that the bill should be declared invalid by arguing that it would force the government to spend money against its will. Liberal backbencher Pablo Rodriguez has said that the bill would compel the government to act and that the bill is not the political game.
Source: CBC News