CANADA VOTE REIGNITES KYOTO ROW

[Anonymous]

Canada vote reignites Kyoto row
Politicians
in Canada’s parliament have voted, by 161 votes to 113, in favour of a
motion that would force the government to meet its Kyoto targets.Canada
remains a signatory to the landmark international agreement to reduce
greenhouse gases.But the Conservatives have rejected most of the
targets since forming a minority government in 2006.The bill gives the
government 60 days to table a detailed plan for getting in line with
the Kyoto targets.But the Conservative government has caused
controversy by calling those targets unattainable and a threat to
Canada’s economy.The new law is binding but Canada’s Environment
Minister, John Baird, has called the vote a stunt.

Fierce debate
He
has suggested the minority government might simply ignore it,
essentially challenging the opposition to bring down the government and
force a spring election.Such a scenario would be unpopular with
politicians across the political spectrum.The vote comes after months
of fierce debate between the Conservatives and the opposition Liberals
over each other’s environmental policies.The Conservatives accuse the
Liberals of doing very little to reduce greenhouse gases during the 12
years they were in power.But the Conservative government has been on
the defensive over its own record.One environment minister has already
lost her job over a series of mistakes, and an embarrassing letter
written by the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, in 2002
recently surfaced.It derided the Kyoto accord as a socialist scheme
designed to suck money out of rich countries.

[Author]

February 15, 2007 at 12:20 PM