OTTAWA - The Conservative government has thumbed its nose at the opposition's legislative attempts to force compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, simply republishing its own greenhouse-gas reduction plan as an official response.
The reaction is likely to spur a fresh political and even legal battle over what the government is required to do.
The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois pushed through the Kyoto Implementation Act last June, a law that says the government must submit a "Climate Change Plan'' for meeting the requirements under the international agreement within 60 days.
The "plan'' it published Tuesday repeats the argument that trying to meet Kyoto by 2012 would wreak economic disaster on the Canadian economy. It estimates astronomical gas-price hikes and catastrophic job losses.
The government underlines that it is moving aggressively to reduce emissions with a plan it unveiled last April, which sets targets for industry, introduces incentives and provides assistance to the provinces for their own related projects.
"By utilizing mandatory regulations, focused program measures that support technology, and by supporting provincial and territorial actions, this government has set Canada on a realistic and balanced pathway to a low carbon future,'' says the document.
As far as meeting those Kyoto targets, there is no attempt to suggest that will occur.
"We believe we've put forward a plan to put Canada on a path to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,'' said Mike Van Soelen, a spokesman for Environment Minister John Baird.
"There was no plan in place. The previous government, while they made a lot of promises, never put in a plan in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.''
The response to the new Act says Canada has fully participated in all the reporting requirements and activities of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the body that oversees the Kyoto Protocol. It also says it intends to work with the international community to combat global warming after the first phase of Kyoto ends in 2012.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in June after the Kyoto legislation was passed that the government was not required to take any action that entailed expenditure because only the government can put forward money bills. Whether it can escape the explicit requirement to provide "a description of the measures to be taken to ensure that Canada meets its obligations under ... the Kyoto Protocol,'' will likely be the subject of vigorous debate.
Liberal MP David McGuinty predicts the fight will wind up in court, and said parliamentarians will want to hold hearings on the issue this fall.
"They have no intention of being bound or honouring the obligations of Kyoto," McGuinty said. "They've been perfectly clear on this even before arriving in government.''
