Tuesday 11 November 2008 KYOTO: CANADIANS HONOURED WITH PRESTIGIOUS PRIZE
A Montreal-based philosopher and a biologist at a Toronto hospital have both been honoured with the Kyoto Prize, Japan's version of the Nobel Prize. Charles Taylor and Anthony Pawson respectively received their prizes in a ceremony in Kyoto. The Inamori Foundation awards the prize for contributions to arts, philosophy, basic science and advanced technology. The three winners received prizes of $590,000 each and will take part in a symposium for Kyoto laureates next March in California.
Tuesday 21 October 2008 OTTAWA: KYOTO CHALLENGE FAILS
Federal Court of Canada has rejected an attempt by an environmental group to force the federal government to comply with the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. The court dismissed an effort by the Friends of the Earth lobby to comply with the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act, which the three opposition parties in the House of Commons voted earlier in the year. Lawyers for the lobby argued unsuccessfully that the Conservative government had missed three deadlines and other associated obligations under Kyoto. But the court ruled that it lacks the jurisdiction to evaluate the government's own climate change plan. The government maintains that Kyoto's requirements to reduce greenhouse gases by six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012 and that an attempt to do so would take 6.5 per cent out of the country's gross domestic product. The Conservatives have offered their own less ambitious plan.
Friday Jun 20, 2008
'Japanese Nobel'
Professor, Bouchard-Taylor co-chairman Charles Taylor wins Kyoto Prize
Charles Taylor, a 76-year-old McGill professor and one of the
co-chairmen of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission...
Thursday Jun 19, 2008 Ottawa accused of ignoring Kyoto pact
Ottawa has broken the law and defied the will of Parliament by failing to pursue measures that comply with the Kyoto Protocol, Federal Court heard yesterday. Lawyers representing Friends of the Earth Canada, an environmental group, argued the government has violated the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act , a law passed last year by opposition parties without the support of the Conservatives.
Thursday 05 June 2008 OTTAWA: COMMONS APPROVES CLIMATE LAW
The three opposition parties in the House of Commons gave final approval in third reading to a bill that would require the Conservative government to cut greenhouse gases considerably. Assuming that the bill is approved by the Senate and receives royal assent, the government would be obliged to act to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. The target would be roughly in line with Canada's commitments under the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, commitments which the Conservatives denounce as unattainable. The legislation is a private-member's bill introduced by NDP leader Jack Layton, who declined how to speculate how or if the opposition could force the Conservatives to adopt the bill's emissions target. The government itself has committed itself to reducing emissions by 20 per cent below 2006 levels by 2020.
Monday 21 April 2008 Grits probe Tory link to anti-Kyoto group
David McGuinty was baffled when he first heard provocative advertising about global warming in the midst of the 2006 federal election.
The radio spots criticized a consumer energy conservation program along with the climate change policies of the government of the day and appeared to come from nowhere, he said.
Saturday 23 February 2008 LONDON, OTTAWA: SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL CRITICIZES CANADA
One of the most respected scientific publications in the world has criticized Canada's Conservative Party government for supposedly showing contempt for science. An editorial in "Nature" affirms that although Canadian scientists are among the world's best, the same cannot be said for the federal government's attitude toward science and research. The editorial entitled "Science in Retreat" claims that science has struggled for a long time to be recognized in Canada, but that the struggle has become tougher with the election of the Conservatives in 2006. The text refers to the scepticism of the Conservatives concerning climate change and the decision to abandon the emissions reduction targets of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. Industry Minister Jim Prentice responded in an open letter that Canada is determined to support world-class research and that the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper considers climate change one of the biggest threats which the world faces.
Thursday 06 December 2007 Ottawa gains 'beyond Kyoto' allies
Canada, U.S. and Japan stress economics before environment at Bali conference on climate change NUSA DUA, INDONESIA — They are fast gaining an image as the black-hatted villains of the Bali conference. Three countries – Canada, Japan and the United States – are sparking the greatest wrath of environmentalists in the early days of the conference on global warming.
Tuesday Dec 4, 2007 Save the world: Dump Kyoto
A new book by Bjorn Lomborg counts the millions of lives that could be saved if Kyoto's trillions were spent on other projects ....In Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming, Lomborg acknowledges that global warming is a serious problem. He also acknowledges that people will die, and human society at-large will suffer, as a result. What he disputes is that we can do much about it without breaking the bank. Consider: The global all-in compliance costs of Kyoto amount to about $180-billion per year. Yet all these billions -- even paid in perpetuity -- would delay the globe's expected rate of heating over the next century by just 5%. Assuming Kyoto is allowed to expire in 2012, its total effect will have been to delay the pace of global warming by one week. In terms of Canada's contribution to Kyoto, the effect would be measured in hours. Think about that the next time Dion or David Suzuki lectures you about Canada's lost opportunity to save the world. ,,,,The bottom line Lomborg presents is that the world has about $15-trillion worth of damage coming to it if global warming proceeds unabated. Kyoto -- even if it were fully implemented by all its signatories -- would knock off a little less than $2-trillion of that, but at a cost of more than $5-trillion. For every dollar we spend on Kyoto, we get back 34¢. ...the "Copenhagen Consensus," an elite global think-tank that has created a sort of master list of problems facing humanity, ranked according to how cost-effectively we can fight them. At or near the top of his wish list are HIV/AIDS prevention, micro-nutrient provision, trade liberalization, malaria control, water purification and basic local health services. In all of these cases, lives of people in the developing world can be saved for thousands, or tens of thousands, of dollars each. Kyoto is at the bottom of the list: To save a single life through carbon-abatement costs millions.
Monday Dec 3, 2007
OTTAWA: CANADA HOPES FOR CONSENSUS AT INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CONFERENCE
Delegates from 190 nations, including Canada, are gathered on the Indonesian island of Bali for a United Nations-sponsored conference on climate change. The two-week conference opens on Monday. On Sunday, the U.N.'s top climate change official told delegates that time was running short to avert more droughts, heatwaves and rising seas caused by global warming. The talks aim to launch negotiations that will result in a new global climate treaty in two years. Canada's environment minister, John Baird, says that the conference delegates must reach a consensus. He said that individual countries could not change climate patterns alone, adding that it was essantial for major polluters like China and the United States to agree to a climate change treaty that sets specific goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Monday Dec 3, 2007 Tories turn to ex-PQ premier for Bali talks
Move could be critical in Quebec, where Conservatives face heat for Kyoto criticismsAppointment of Pierre-Marc Johnson could be critical in Quebec, where Conservatives face heat for Kyoto criticisms
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Wednesday 28 November 2007 0:50 OTTAWA: UN CRITICIZES CANADA ON ENVIRONMENT
A UN report has called on developed nations to start fulfilling their promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to provide tens of billion of dollars to help the world's poor countries to adapt to global warming. The 2007 Human Development Report says wealthy nations should not only take the lead in cutting emissions but also come up with $86 billion by 2015 to assist their less advantaged neighbours on the planet. The report says that developed countries aren't fulfilling the emissions reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, describing Canada as an extreme example. Canada became a signatory of Kyoto under the previous Liberal Party government but the present Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while not abjuring Kyoto, has said its targets are impossible to achieve. At the Commonwealth summit last weekend in Uganda, Mr. Harper said Kyoto was fatally flawed because it doesn't apply to such polluters of the developing world as India and China. Federal opposition parties reacted by calling the prime minister an environmental saboteur. Next week, the UN will hold an international environmental conference in Indonesia to lay the framework of a new world accord on global warming to take effect after Kyoto expires in 2012.
Monday 26 November 2007 KAMPALA: PM CALLS KYOTO ACCORD A MISTAKE
Prime Minister Stephen Harper ended his partcipation at the Commonwealth summit meeting in Uganda Sunday by bluntly describing the Kyoto accord as a mistake that the world must never repeat. Mr. Harper characterized the landmark climate-change agreement as a flawed document. He also served notice that Canada would not support any new international treaty that includes what he regards as Kyoto's fatal flaw. The treaty demands binding, six-per-cent greenhouse-gas emission cuts below 1990 levels by 2012. Mr. Harper said the accord's error was slapping binding targets on three dozen countries but not the rest. Those left out include some of the world's biggest polluters--such as the United States, China and India. He said Canada will enter crucial negotiations on a post-Kyoto deal next month in Bali, Indonesia with the position that all major polluters must be included or there will be no agreement. Earlier Sunday Mr. Harper told his fellow Commonwealth leaders they should be pleased with their work on climate change. He said they had delivered a substantive deal that successfully sets the stage for the Indonesian meeting. On Saturday Mr. Harper refused to go along with a resolution setting binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions because it would have committed only developed nations. Canada argued the agreement was unfair because it excluded India, a member of the Commonwealth and one of the world's largest polluters. The final Commonwealth resolution on climate change said all nations should contribute to reducing emissions within a non-binding global target. [Wed-Night said this years ago!]
Sun 25/11/2007 KAMPALA: HARPER SAYS HE STILL WANTS BINDING CLIMATE RULES
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he still wants a new global climate-change treaty that includes binding targets for every country. He says Canada will take that position to critical climate talks in Indonesia next month, where world governments will try to reach a successor agreement to the Kyoto accord. Mr. Harper's comments came during a Commonwealth summit in Uganda at which Canada helped strip away any reference to binding targets. Canada played a key role in killing an agreement that called on developed countries to agree to such targets at the upcoming Indonesian meeting. The only other government that sided with Canada was Australia. Mr. Harper said the original wording of the proposed Commonwealth agreement was unacceptable because it excluded developing countries who are also major polluters. Canada argued that the deal was unfair because it excluded India, a Commonwealth member and one of the world's biggest polluters. The final Commonwealth agreement said all countries should contribute to reducing emissions within a non-binding global target. Canada's Conservative government believes that big polluters who did not sign the Kyoto accord--notably China, India and the US--should be included in any post-Kyoto protocol.
Sunday Nov 25, 2007 Harper has it his way
KAMPALA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has "embarrassed Canada on the world stage" by blocking a consensus... KAMPALA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has "embarrassed Canada on the world stage" by blocking a consensus among more than 50 Commonwealth countries to endorse binding commitments on industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion charged yesterday.
"The prime minister does not believe in climate change - does not believe that it's so dangerous for the future of humanity," Dion said in an interview.
"Canada will not lead the way - Canada is standing in the way." [good we always knew we could not aford Kyoto]
Sunday Nov 25, 2007 Australia's new PM Rudd acts swiftly on climate BRISBANE -- Australia's new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, made climate change his top priority on Sunday, seeking advice on ratifying the Kyoto pact and telling Indonesia he will go to December's UN climate summit in Bali.
Former Quebec premier Pierre Marc Johnson played a key role in bringing this conference to Montreal in his role as a board member of the Veolia Environment Institute.
The Paris-based think tank was created in 2001. Its mission is to promote environmental research in universities and hold a series of international conferences.
In an interview with The Gazette yesterday, Johnson stressed the conference will not be about rehashing political conflicts over the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
"This is not about Kyoto or no Kyoto. We are talking about major changes in terms of emissions rates over the long term," he said
Tuesday 13 November 2007 SPAIN
The fourth and final of a series of UN conferences on climate change has convened in Valencia. Environmentalists will complete a guide on the state of global warming and what can be achieved to stop it. John Stone, an adjunct professor at Carleton University, is the vice-chairman of one of three working groups that will author the report due on Saturday. The report is to furnish the science for a further conference in Bali, Indonesia, next month that will begin work on a new global strategy to be implemented after the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change expires in 2012
Monday Nov 5, 2007
Albertan defends Kyoto note
MIKE DE SOUZA,
The Gazette
An Alberta cabinet minister says he did nothing wrong when he offered to send billions of dollars from the oilpatch to the Montreal Stock Exchange during a 2005 discussion with Quebec over implementing the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
A new book called Stupid to the Last Drop, about the oilsands industry, reports former Alberta environment minister Guy Boutilier handed a note to Thomas Mulcair, his Quebec counterpart at the time, at a United Nations climate change conference in Montreal in 2005.
"Recent media reports has (sic) positioned Quebec vs. Alberta on this file (Re: Federal Gov't)," reads the note, signed by Boutilier. "Considering our premiers are good friends ... We may want to discuss a couple of positive initiatives relative to finance and the Montreal Exchange, with the billions Alberta industry has."
The book, by Gazette reporter William Marsden, alleges Boutilier made the offer to get Quebec to soften its support for Kyoto.
Boutilier, who is now Alberta's international, intergovernmental, and aboriginal affairs minister, said he did write the note, but called Marsden's allegations sensational. "Alberta, at the time, was against Kyoto, and Quebec was in favour of it, (but) we were still mature enough to have discussions, in terms of what we would want to be able to do in a positive environmental initiative," he said.
Mulcair, now a Quebec MP for the New Democrats, is quoted in the book as saying he was offended by the note, and chose not to follow it up with Boutilier.
"I knew exactly what was going on," he told Marsden. "He was telling us to stop talking about greenhouse-gas emissions and take the pill that he would give to us." Mulcair said he mentioned the note to Premier Jean Charest, who had a similar reaction.
Friday Oct 26, 2007 Kyoto's death certificate
The Kyoto Protocol is dead, even if its advocates haven't realized it yet. It stumbles onward, decapitated, as a talking point in the binders of green
Thursday Oct 25, 2007 Kyoto must go, science journal says
A report in an influential science magazine says it is time to forego the Kyoto protocol because the...
Tuesday 23 October 2007 OTTAWA: CANADA WON'T QUIT KYOTO
Canadian Environment Minister John Baird says that Canada won't formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change even though the Conservative government has officially abandoned its emissions reduction targets as unachievable. Mr. Baird says the government will move ahead to reduce greenhouse gases by 20 per cent over a 13-year period, doing this in partnership with other nations. A public opinion survey published on Friday in the Toronto Star newspaper indicates that Canadians are generally unhappy with the environmental statements in the Speech From the Throne delivered in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Tuesday 16 October 2007 OTTAWA: GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS STABLE BUT TOO HIGH
A federal report says that greenhouse gas emissions were more or less stable in 2004 and 2005 but remain far higher than levels of 1990. Under Canada's commitments to the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, the country is supposed to reduce emissions to six per cent below 1990. That's the finding of the the preliminary version of the third annual report on Canada's environmental sustainability drawn up by Statistics Canada, Health Canada and Environment Canada. The document says that emissions increased considerably between 1990 and 2005, although there was a 17.5 decrease "per unit of economic activity in 2005..." The departments attribute the increase to an increase of the population in those years by 17 per cent, causing greater resource use, waste production and greenhouse gas emissions. The final version of the report is due in December.
Sunday 23 September 2007 rci OTTAWA: GOVERNMENT MINISTER APPLAUDS GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT AGREEMENT
Canada's environment minister is praising a new international agreement that was reached on Friday at a United Nations conference in Montreal. John Baird calls the agreement a pivotal moment. Delegates from 191 countries agreed to set dates to eliminate the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, a substance that damages the earth's ozone layer. Developed nations will stop using the substance by 2020, while developing countries will eliminate it by 2030. Both dates reduced previous deadlines by ten years. All signatories to the agreement will phase out production of the substance in stages. Mr. Baird particularly praised China, India and the United States for accepting the agreement, because the three countries had declined to accept environmental targets set by the Kyoto Protocol. During the week-long conference, delegates marked the twentieth anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, the world's first treaty designed to protect the ozone layer. A study group will determine how much it will cost to implement the new agreement and will make its report early next year.
OTTAWA: REPORT CRITICIZES GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT PLAN
A new report by a federal government body is strongly criticizing the Conservative Party government's environment plan. The plan was introduced this year after the government decided that Canada's commitment to the targets under the international Kyoto Protocol were unattainable. The National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy says that government estimates on the effectiveness of its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are likely overstated. The report concluded that nine different government programs either exaggerated their benefits or failed to justify their claims. In some cases, cuts to emissions are counted twice. The report predicts that the programs would not help Canada to meet the reduction targets set out by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
RIMOUSKI: OPPOSITION PARTY THREATENS TO BRING DOWN GOVERNMENT
Canadians could have an early federal election before the end of the year. On Saturday, the leader of the opposition Bloc Quebecois, Gilles Duceppe, announced that his party will continue to support the minority Conservative Party government of Prime Minster Stephen Harper if he agrees to five conditions in his Throne Speech to open Parliament next month. Mr. Duceppe made his plan known in a speech to party supporters in Rimouski. He said that the government must adopt the Bloc's position to withdraw Canadian troops from Afghanistan in 2009, must meet the environment targets set out under the Kyoto Protocol, must provide support for the forestry and agriculture industries, and must stop federal spending in areas that are under provincial jurisdiction. The demands are harsh enough that it's unlikely that Mr. Harper will agree to all of them. The Bloc Quebecois has supported the government's first two annual budgets, enabling the Conservative Party to remain in party. But the Bloc's power in Quebec---the only province where it campaigns and holds seats---has slipped, in part because of voter dissatisfaction over Mr. Duceppe's previous support of Mr. Harper. The Bloc Quebecois promotes Quebec's independence.
Sep. 15, 1987 Montreal Protocol Ozone Agreement Created [2:58] Twenty-four countries just made an unprecedented commitment to the environment by signing the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The countries have agreed to start phasing out ozone-harming chemicals.
Reached after a late-night breakthrough, this is the world's first cooperative attempt to control a global pollutant. Ozone-harming air conditioners and Styrofoam products will be on the hit list of everyday products to be banned for contributing to the hole in our protective layer
Though skeptics were quick to ask how tangible the results will be, environmentalists agree that it's an important step in the right direction. More countries are expected to sign the agreement and ratify the protocol.
As Canadian Environment Minister Tom McMillan puts it, "the Montreal Protocol improves the odds in the risky game the world has been playing with its own future."
Wednesday 22 August 2007 OTTAWA: ANOTHER FIGHT BREWS OVER KYOTO
Canada's Conservative Party minority government seems destined to resume squabbling with the three opposition parties that comprise a majority in the House of Commons over respect of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, to which Canada is a party. The former Liberal government committed Canada to its emissions targets, a commitment which the present government immediately declared impossible of achievement after being elected in January 2006. The opposition then passed a law last May obliging the government to state within 60 days how it will implement Kyoto. On Tuesday, the government responded merely by reissuing its own climate plan, which restates the impossibility of implementing Kyoto except at the cost of huge gasoline-price hikes and disastrous job losses. Liberal Member of Parliament David McGuinty says the Conservatives have no intention of being bound by Kyoto and predicts the matter will end up in court. He also says legislators will want to hold hearings on the issue in the fall.
Friday 06 July 2007 OTTAWA: CANADA WORKING TO BRING U.S. ONSIDE ON CLIMATE CHANGE
The Canadian Press news agency reports that Canada is working closely with European states to coax the U.S. into signing onto a new global climate treaty after the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change ends in 2012. CP cites an unnamed European source as explaining the strategy toward the Americans is to find a way to make the process of negotiating less cumbersome. The Kyoto process has so far been conducted by the UN, and a UN conference in Indonesia in December is supposed to set the negotiations into motion. The issue will arise next week at the G8 summit in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for a final communiqué that will set global targets for greenhouse gas reduction and reaffirm the primacy of the talks in Bali. The U.S. dislikes that approach, objecting in particular to the goal of a target of 50 per cent reductions of emissions by 2050. According to CP's source, Canada and Japan are intent upon somehow bringing the American into the process, which would be an inducement to India and China as well. Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons on Tuesday that his government wants an "effective international protocol that includes all nations, with real targets past 2012."
June 25, 2007 The Economist Tories Loved, Then Silenced Mark Jaccard's [Simon Fraser University] tough takes on global warming. Jaccard upset many environmentalists in the spring when he argued that it's too late for Canada to reach its targets under the Kyoto Accord. But he pleased federal Environment Minister John Baird -- who also says that Kyoto is a lost cause.study [pdf] for the C.D. Howe Institute that concluded that the federal Conservative government's plans to reduce greenhouse gases won't come anywhere near their targets.
...Although the Greens, along with the other opposition parties, argue that Canada's Kyoto targets can still be met, which puts them at odds with Jaccard and his team on that score...
Saturday Jun 23, 2007 PM decries Senate for imposing Kyoto bill
Parliament shut down for the summer yesterday with a defiant Prime Minister Stephen Harper threatening...
Friday Jun 22, 2007 Kyoto's the password for Tory budget
The Harper government has struck a deal with the Liberal-dominated Senate that will see royal assent...
The deal would force Prime Minister Stephen Harper to deal with legislation on climate change, Bill C-288, which he has described as "fantasy" that would devastate the economy. But Liberal Senate leader Celine Hervieux-Payette warned Harper he shouldn't ignore it "unless he wants to end his career very fast."
"As far as I am concerned, the three (opposition) parties voted for it in the House and here we will vote for it and I suppose his own caucus will not support it but at the end of the day, he is getting his bill on the budget," Hervieux-Payette said. Although Canada is required to meet its Kyoto target of reducing greenhouse-gas pollution by six per cent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012, the Conservative government's new plan pledges to meet that target after 2020. more
Wednesday 20 June 2007 China overtakes U.S. as top polluter
Dutch government-funded agency says country now top emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas
Mon June 18, 2007
Kyoto – Bruce Pardy Feature
Well,
negotiators and diplomats the world over are trying to find the elusive
son of Kyoto, which runs out after 2012. Many were looking to the G8
summit in Germany earlier this month to make some serious progress in
that direction. But the best the G8 could muster was a tepid resolution
to - quote - "seriously consider" - end of quote - cutting emissions in
half by 2050.
Meanwhile, such
countries as China and India contribute a bigger share of greenhouse
gas emissions with every passing year and their focus is on economic
growth and raising their standard of living … not reducing emissions.
But while conscientious consumers rid themselves of incandescent light bulbs, Bruce Pardy sees little point to all the little things
we can do to fight climate change and no point to the biggest weapon
against climate change ... Kyoto. He's taught environmental law in New
Zealand and California, and he's now an associate professor of law at
Queens University. Bruce Pardy joined us from a studio in Kingston,
Ontario.
Wednesday 13 June 2007 Kyoto could open Canada to lawsuits, bureaucrats warn OTTAWA — Opposition legislation designed to enforce Canada’s international obligations under the Kyoto Protocol has numerous flaws that could open the door to lawsuits against the federal government, according to new documents released by the Justice Department.
The point-by-point critique, released to CanWest News Service following an access to information request, summarizes the main arguments fed to the Conservative government by civil servants to attack Bill C-288.
What is the $cost if a country fails Kyoto?
Tuesday Jun 5, 2007 Harper flies to Paris for his first face-to-face meeting with newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has proposed slapping an import tax on countries that do not honour the Kyoto Protocol
LOONIE MADNESS by Claire Ward May 30,
2007
Canada’s unemployment rate is at a 33-year low. Canadian
exports are strong, beefed up by trade
with Europe and Asia. The Canadian loonie is soaring, sitting at just
over 93 cents US. While the news sounds promising, the Big Seven do well
to remind readers of the downside of Canada’s current economic boom.
Talk of inflation is scattered across the news today as the loonie
sky-rocketed yesterday after the Bank of Canada signalled
that inflation pressures may lead to higher interest rates in the
near future. The
Star has Carol Wilding, president and CEO of the Toronto Board of
Trade, calling it “more of a bad-news story,” She says,
“while some Canadian businesses can thrive on a high dollar, small
operations who rely on State-side sales are going to suffer.” Paul
Marks, owner of Toronto-based EnviroSan, confirmed this, saying his export
business had dropped to 10 percent of what it was when the Canadian dollar
was low. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty supported the bank’s
decision, but voiced concern for the Canadian manufacturing sector, which
has seen sales hurt by a high dollar, and pointed to potential job losses.
Economists are predicting interest hikes this summer, according to the
Star, although the Bank of Canada said it would keep its key-rate steady
at 4.25 percent for now. The Globe has economists arguing over whether the
hike will occur in July or September.
The Star put it simply: “it may turn out to be a bad summer to
buy a house or take out a loan, but at least you'll get a break on orange
juice.” Indeed, the cost of Canadian homes is averaging a cool
$300,000, according
to data from the Multiple Listing Service. That's a 9.3 percent
increase (or $26,000) on the average resale just one year ago. Record
resale highs are hitting every province, according to The National,
British Columbia tops the tables, bumped up by Vancouver, where the
average home resale price was $564,000 last month. In anticipation of a
rate increase, the
Globe explains, Canada's major banks raised their posted mortgage rates
by nearly one-third of a point yesterday. The Star has the central bank
explaining that they had underestimated the speed of Canada’s
economic growth. “Core inflation—or the cost of goods minus
energy and food—was at 2.5 percent in April, well above the target
of 2 percent.” This news affects Canadians differently across the
board. For small business owners, “the noose is tightening,”
Gerald Fedchun, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers
Association, explains in the Star. Those Canadians concerned with summer
trips to Disneyland or the cost of groceries, on the other hand, can look
forward to getting more bang for their Canadian buck.
Canada can't meet Kyoto: Harper Climate change is "perhaps the biggest threat to confront the future of humanity today," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a speech here Monday that reached for common ground with the European position ahead of this week’s G8 summit.
Monday 28 May 2007 WOODSTOCK: CANADA EXCEEDS KYOTO TARGETS BY FAR
Environment Canada has informed the UN that the country is 32 per cent beyond its targets set by the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. Documents supplied to the world body indicate that Canada emitted 747 magatonnes of greenhouse gases in 2005 compared with the target level of 596 megatonnes. However, the department's data suggests that the emissions have stabilized, the 2005 levels being unchanged from the previous year and only slightly higher than in 2003. The department says the stabilization may be due to warmer winters which lowered demand for heating fuel. But Environment Minister John Baird says the stabilization could also be explained by the decision of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris to increase nuclear capacity in his province.
Saturday 19 May 2007 Deadlock at climate talks mars Kyoto hopes
BONN, May 18 (Reuters) - Deadlock over how to bring the United States and big developing nations to the climate negotiating table frustrated U.N.-hosted talks this week, meant to lay the groundwork for a conference in Indonesia in December.
The talks among 166 nations conclude on Friday, three weeks before a G8 summit where global warming will feature.
Despite recent U.N. reports ringing alarm bells on global warming, pessimism has mounted over the prospects of launching formal talks to extend the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of carbon emissions beyond 2012 at the Bali conference.
The United States has refused to ratify Kyoto, while rapidly developing nations like China and India were not set targets. Countries that accepted emissions caps such as Japan want everyone involved next time round.
"You need all major emitters to join in, including India, China and the United States," said Japan's chief climate negotiator, Mutsuyoshi Nishimura.
UK delegate criticizes partisan approach to climate change Canadian politicians should stop blaming each other for failures in meeting targets in the Kyoto accord, and start developing effective policies to slash the greenhouse gas pollution that causes climate change, says Britain's high commissioner to Canada, Anthony Cary.
Monday 14 May 2007
Forcing Ottawa’s hand on Kyoto
Obscure private member’s bill has the teeth to make Tories take action, activists say
MICHELLE LALONDETHE GAZETTE
Jacques Lalonde has started a petition to support a bill that many legal experts say could force Canada to respect its Kyoto commitments.
Like a lot of climate-conscious Quebecers, Montrealer Jacques Lalonde has made small changes in his lifestyle to try to do his bit for the environment. He’s stopped using plastic bags, doesn’t drive and has replaced all his incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents.
And while Lalonde believes these individual changes can have a cumulative impact, he has come to realize that without quick government action to regulate industrial emissions, Canada can’t possibly do its fair share of climate cleanup.
That’s why Lalonde recently launched a petition campaign to get Canadians to show support for Bill C-288, a littleknown private member’s bill.
Like a lot of climate-conscious Quebecers, Montrealer Jacques Lalonde has made small changes in his lifestyle to try to do his bit for the environment. He’s stopped using plastic bags, doesn’t drive and has replaced all his incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents.
And while Lalonde believes these individual changes can have a cumulative impact, he has come to realize that without quick government action to regulate industrial emissions, Canada can’t possibly do its fair share of climate cleanup.
That’s why Lalonde recently launched a petition campaign to get Canadians to show support for Bill C-288, a littleknown private member’s bill.
Bill C-288 could force the federal government to take action to meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
The bill has had little media attention, but legal experts say it actually has the power to force the Conservative government to meet Kyoto targets, something the Harper government has repeatedly said it cannot and will not do.
“This is the one thing that the Conservatives can’t circumvent,” said Lalonde, a translator from Notre Dame de Grâce who launched the petition campaign last week on his EcoContribution website. “Once it’s law, it’s law.”
Bill C-288 would do two important things if it became law: It would force the government to publish a plan to meet its Kyoto targets within 60 days of its enactment, and to enact legislation within six months that would enable Canada to meet those targets.
The bill, which has been passed by the House of Commons and is before the Senate, is sponsored by another Montrealer, Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez.
While all eyes have been focused on the Conservative government’s floundering Bill C-30 – the Clean Air Act – Rodriguez and others say Bill C-288 is a much more efficient tool to implement quick action on climate change.
“This is the submarine that nobody can see right now, but it’s about to surface,” Rodriguez said in an interview Thursday.
The first draft of Bill C-30 set out targets that fell far short of Canada’s commitment in Kyoto, which was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions six per cent below 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012.
That bill was sent to committee after first reading in the House and was amended to bring it into line with Kyoto. The problem now is that the Conservative government, which sponsored C-30, no longer supports the bill.
Rodriguez and others say this means C-30 is dead.
“It is up to them to bring it back to the House, and they won’t do it. It is dead now, which is too bad because in its amended form it was a good bill.”
Bill C-288, meanwhile, was passed by Parliament on Feb. 14 by a strong margin (161 votes in favour and 113 against) and is on its third reading in the Senate.
“Time matters on Kyoto,” said Stewart Elgie, a University of Ottawa professor specializing in law and economics.
“We’ve got five years to go (before our target deadlines kick in) so every month matters. … Because we have to move quickly to meet our Kyoto targets, the fact that C-288 is ready to become law gives it a great advantage.”
Joe Castrilli, a lawyer with the Canadian Environmental Law Association, explains that a government that does not want to regulate industry can do all kinds of things to avoid taking action, while talking a good game.
He notes there was no need to introduce the Clean Air Act to tackle greenhouse gases, because they were already defined as toxins under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
“The Harper government has been criticized for ignoring the authority already existing under CEPA and instead introducing C-30, which had such lazy goals it was, in fact, a declaration of noncompliance to Kyoto,” he said.
Observers say that even though the Senate is dominated by Liberals, it is possible that political “horse trading” could result in the Senate asking for changes to Bill C-288, which would send it back to the House of Commons.
In that case, Lalonde’s petition could be important, because Rodriguez can use it to drum up more support in the House.
Rodriguez says the petition is important whenever his bill becomes law.
“We have to put as much pressure as possible on the prime minister because he doesn’t want to respect Kyoto, so everything that does that is welcome.” For information on the petition: www.ecocontribution.com
mlalonde@thegazette.canwest.com
Tuesday 24 April 2007
Kyoto protocol targets not part of clean air legislation Canadian business will soon get a new overseas option to
fight global warming, but Canada’s Kyoto protocol targets and other major changes forced into the minority Conservative government’s clean air legislation by the opposition parties won’t be included in upcoming federal targets and regulations to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases, Environment Minister John Baird said Monday.
Monday 23 April 2007 Thousands of people march during Earth Day in Montreal on Sunday April 22, 2007. With Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government poised to set its own course to cut greenhouse gas emissions, thousands marched in Montreal with smaller crowds gathering across the country to demand the Conservatives honour the targets of the Kyoto treaty." Rallies push Ottawa to honour Kyoto The clown hats and witty T-shirt slogans of festive Earth Day marches were a thin veil Sunday for the gloom hanging over environmentalists as they await the launch of a made-in-Canada global warming plan.
Monday Apr 23, 2007 EARTH DAY DEMONSTRATORS RAP HARPER ON KYOTO
Millions of people in 180 countries celebrated Earth Day on Sunday,
including many Canadians who used the occasion to pressure the
Conservative government to honour its obligations under the Kyoto
Protocol.
FULL STORY
Kyoto forecast 'alarmist'
Economic meltdown seen. Opposition parties, environmentalists accuse Tories of fear-mongering
MIKE DE SOUZA, KEVIN DOUGHERTY of The Gazette contributed,
CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, April 20, 2007
Tempers
flared on Parliament Hill yesterday as Prime Minister Stephen Harper
used a new report that warned of skyrocketing energy prices and a
crippling recession to justify his decision to walk away from Canada's
international commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.
The
Conservatives argued the report - paid for by taxpayers and verified by
five independent economists - proved Canada would be hard-pressed to
close the gap between its current pollution levels and its commitment
under the 1997 climate change agreement signed by the previous Liberal
government.
Opposition parties, environmentalists and Quebec's
new environment minister were among those who accused the Tories of
fear-mongering.
"The real issue here is whether any of the opposition parties have the guts to face reality," Harper said in the Commons.
"You
cannot reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by one-third in less than four
years and have a positive effect for the Canadian economy."
The
report provoked an angry reaction from the opposition, setting off a
series of testy exchanges at a Senate committee that reviewed it with
Environment Minister John Baird yesterday morning.
"We've seen
the movie An Inconvenient Truth, but I guess this would be a convenient
lie," said Liberal Senator Dennis Dawson, referring to last year's
documentary on climate change that featured former U.S. vice-president
Al Gore. "Every time we talk about changes that would normally protect
the environment, we always have people coming in and telling us: 'It
will destroy the economy.'
"It was not true in 1960, it was not in 1970 and it won't be true (in the future)."
Baird
urged the Senate to reject a private member's bill tabled by the
Liberals to force the minority government to comply with its Kyoto
obligations of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by six per cent below
1990 levels.
He cited figures from the government report that
warned the economy could shrink by 6.5 per cent under such a scenario,
driving up the cost of electricity and gasoline by more than 50 per
cent, and causing nearly 300,000 Canadians to lose their jobs.
"This
might not seem like much of a sacrifice for the opposition parties that
united to pass Bill C-288 in the House of Commons, but for the
government these numbers are simply unacceptable," Baird said.
"We
are talking about jobs and families. We are talking about Canadian
quality of life or, in the case of Bill C-288, severely limiting that
quality of life.
"Rather than take it to those reckless extremes
just to make up for lost time, we prefer a more balanced and a more
realistic plan, which I will introduce soon."
Baird added the government remains committed to the Kyoto process and would make its "best efforts" to achieve its targets.
The
Liberals insisted their new climate change plan, which includes
introducing penalties for large industrial polluters, would address
environmental issues and allow for economic growth.
NDP leader Jack Layton said global warming posed the greatest threat to the Canadian economy.
"The
prime minister has got to stop hiding behind bogus, irresponsible and
incomplete reports that purport to suggest that it's either (a choice
between) jobs and the economy on the one hand or the environment on the
other," Layton said. "That's simply wrong."
Baird said the government is building on new programs and initiatives announced since the beginning of the year.
"I'll
take responsibility for the action of my government over the last year
if members from the other party take responsibility for the inaction of
10 years," he said.
Government officials refused to say how much it cost to produce the study.
BBC
menu of Environment stories
Reuters Daily World Environment News.
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Related:
Part 3 
