20 September 2007Joe Schneider
Friends of the Earth and Ecojustice Canada, two environmental advocacy groups, sued the Canadian government for failing to draft a plan for meeting the pollution-reductions goals of the Kyoto Protocol.
The environmental groups asked a federal judge yesterday to order the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to comply with a June law requiring it to prepare a plan to meet the emissions targets of the Kyoto Protocol. The law passed with the support of opposition parties, which have a majority of the votes in Canada's parliament.
``This case is about being accountable to the will of Parliament,'' Chris Paliare, a Toronto lawyer, said today in a phone interview. ``By failing to comply with this law, the federal government is neither acting in a manner that is accountable to Parliament nor showing respect for the people of Canada.''
Environment Minister John Baird said in April that Canada couldn't meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol without causing a recession. An economic impact report presented by Baird said implementing the Kyoto plan would result in 275,000 job losses in 2009 while the cost of electricity would rise 50 percent after 2010 and gas prices would increase 60 percent.
``What's that got to do with if you live up to your legal commitments?'' Paliare said, referring to Baird's comments on the economic effects. ``So change the law or do something. You can't ignore the law.''
Baird's press secretary Eric Richer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Output Decline
According to the study, Canada's economic output would decline 4.2 percent, comparable to the recession of 1981 and 1982, the worst since World War II.
Canada is required to reduce polluting emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 international agreement to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
Under the government's plan, polluting emissions would be reduced. Emissions would still be 30 percent higher than the Kyoto targets. Baird said the proposal puts the country on track for further reductions later.
Friends of the Earth and Ecojustice sued the government in May, alleging it had contravened the Canadian Environmental Protection Act by not meeting international commitments to reduce polluting emissions. The suit was withdrawn after the June law was passed.
The case is Between Friends of the Earth and Her Majesty the Queen, T-1683-07, Federal Court of Canada (Toronto).
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Schneider in Toronto at [email protected] .
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