NUPGE applauds Climate Change Accountability Act

Approved by Parliament over bitter opposition from the Harper government

Ottawa (6 June 2008) – Parliament has passed Bill C-377, the Climate Change Accountability Act, despite the bitter opposition of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his minority conservative government.

Proponents of the legislation, introduced by Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), say the new law is an important step along the path to deep reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. With the support of the Liberals and Bloc Québécois, the NDP's legislation passed through the House of Commons by a vote of 148 to 116.

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has consistently called on the federal government to show leadership on emissions reductions and implement a comprehensive plan to ensure Canada meets it’s international obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

Unfortunately, by voting against this legislation, the Harper government has once again failed the test of leadership and demonstrated that it is not up to meeting the challenge of confronting the climate crisis.

Under Bill C-377, Canada will have to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from 1990 levels by 2020, and 80% by 2050. The targets, often referred to as 'KYOTOplus targets', are based on recommendations of international climate scientists and are designed to prevent catastrophic climate change impacts. The Act requires the federal government to implement regulations and other measures strong enough to meet the targets.

This spring opposition leaders Stéphane Dion, Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton joined environmental groups and NUPGE in endorsing the KYOTOplus campaign. In this campaign, groups across the country mobilized supporters to take political action in favour of the KYOTOplus targets.

“The Canadian government has been fighting meaningful targets every step of the way and blocking progress on international negotiations.” said Graham Saul of Climate Action Network Canada, who is currently in Bonn. “This bill is a powerful message to the world that Canadians want their country to be part of the solution, not the problem.”

Under the auspices of the United Nations, a working group of industrial nation signatories of the Kyoto Protocol is currently meeting in Bonn (June 2-12) to discuss a post-Kyoto agreement. The Bonn negotiations were launched at the UN climate conference last December in Bali - to reach a global agreement after 2012, when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends. The post-Kyoto agreement will be decided in December 2009 at the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen.

The approval of Bill-C377 also comes as Canadian provinces are increasingly taking the initiative in the struggle against climate change. British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec have joined several U.S. states in the Western Climate Initiative which aims to establish a cap-and-trade system. Earlier this week, the Ontario and Quebec governments announced they would work together on an emissions trading system. NUPGE