Canadian government 'will respect' Kyoto law

Friday, February 16, 2007 

The Conservative Canadian government have decided to obey the Kyoto bill which was a forced decision by the opposition Liberals. Prior to this decision, the Liberal opposition party said the government could be sued if they would ignore the law.

"If and when that becomes law, the government would respect it. I'll just point out ... that the bill has no plan of action in it, the bill gives the government no authority to spend any money to have a plan of action," Canadian PM Stephen Harper told the House on Thursday. "Of course, if and when that becomes law, the government would respect it."

The bill will be sent to the Senate of Canada for approval before it is actually made law. The legislation will only give the government 60 days to come up with a plan that meets with the Kyoto Protocol.

Kyoto wants to drop 6% of greenhouse gas emissions starting from 1990 to 2012. The Conservatives say it is bad for the Canadian economy.

Political experts are now saying that a federal election could come as soon as spring 2007. The Conservatives were elected on the 23 of January in 2006.

Related news

• "Canadian government threatens to ignore law respecting Kyoto Protocol" — Wikinews, February 11, 2007
• "Canadian Prime Minister Harper agrees to send 'Clean Air Act' to committee" — Wikinews, November 2, 2006
• "Kyoto Protocol comes into effect" — Wikinews, February 16, 2005

Sources

• "Canada gov't relents, says will obey pro-Kyoto law" — Reuters, February 15, 2007
• Canadian Press. "Harper will respect Kyoto bill" — Edmonton Sun, February 15, 2007