I Wonder If The CAW/Daimler Chrysler Are In Cheering Section

How many job losses have we seen in the auto sector, production & parts suppliers, over the last couple of years because of declining sales thanks to trade barriers and the cost of production? Will we regain those jobs by adding addition costs of the finished product? I doubt it.

Honour Kyoto, House tells PM
February 15, 2007
Allan Woods
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA–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.

However, the Conservatives, who have called Kyoto targets impossible to meet, have given every indication they plan to ignore the bill.

But it is unclear how they can delay its implementation. In any event, a court challenge to force implementation would be a lengthy process, with any decision coming long after the next election. MPs voted 161-113 in favour of Bill C-288, allowing it to clear the last hurdle before entering the Liberal-dominated Senate. There, it is expected to be passed into law after being studied briefly by the environment and energy committee.

mORE

THE REALITY OF KYOTO UNDER THE LIBERALS/DION

Kyoto and Canada: a Primer

Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Canada committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to about 6 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.

But, instead, the emissions have climbed.

In 1990, vehicles, industries and other sources in Canada produced 599 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. We're now at more than 760 million tonnes – roughly 2 per cent of the world total – and still rising.

That puts Canada about 27 per cent above the 1990 base and about 35 per cent higher than its Kyoto target.

The Conservative government has said the target is too tough and won't attempt to reach it, although it hasn't renounced the treaty itself.