Canada Sort of Commits to Kyoto. We think.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 02.15.07
Prime Minister Stephen Harper previously renounced Canada's commitment to Kyoto, saying that it was impossible to meet. However he is head of a minority government, and the Opposition parties, led by Stephane Dion, (second from left in the picture above, Michael Ignatieff to his right) just passed a private members bill that "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."
Prime Minister Harper didn't bother to show up for the vote, and appears to give every indication that he plans to completely ignore the bill, so we may have a constitutional crisis on our hands but we do not have a real commitment to Kyoto. Yet. ::The Star
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I hope this story finishes with a positive ending. Please let us now the finale when it unfolds.
Our (Canada's) government loves to add phrases like, "pursue the goal of fulfilling our commitment to," in front of a goal, until the actual requirement to do something is lost behind layers of abstraction until merely agreeing to think about pursuing an agenda to address an issue is counted as success.
They also like to establish timelines for programmes that are long enough to guarantee that the eventual (inevitable) failure will occur long after they have retired. (or been safely ensconced in cushy Senate jobs)