ENVI Committee Report

With every passing day, the effects of global warming become more evident, including melting polar ice caps, rising ocean levels and the acceleration of erosion, to name a few.

The Bloc Québécois strongly believes that inaction can no longer be justified: immediate measures must be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a minimum and credible plans must be developed to ensure that we do not reach the point of no return when climate change will have serious effects on ecosystems and human life.

International discussions regarding the follow-up on the Kyoto Protocol are crucial. Instead of contenting itself with a weak greenhouse gas reduction plan based on emissions intensity, Canada must act responsibly and heed the European Union’s call for absolute targets.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has indicated that an increase in global temperatures of more than two degrees Celsius over the pre-industrial era levels would engender “irreversible” risks.

To ensure that we do not surpass that point, the IPCC has recommended that industrialized countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 25% to 40% under 1990 levels by 2020. This objective is included in Bill C-377.

This objective and the government’s commitment to develop a credible and responsible plan are among the reasons why the Bloc Québécois supported Bill C-377 and sought to improve it throughout the Committee’s work.

In the opinion of the Bloc Québécois, the report is chronologically accurate but the Block does not share its interpretation of events whatsoever.

The Bloc Québécois can therefore only endorse the part of the report that states that the Committee was unable to make further progress because section 10 provoked a debate of over twenty hours, causing an impasse.

This debate did not of course prevent the Committee from concluding its section-by-section consideration of the bill. It was a delaying tactic the Conservative MPs used to sabotage the bill.

Despite all the talk of Conservative MPs, they clearly still reject the evidence of global warming and will pursue economic growth steadfastly regardless of the cost to the environment. 

Instead of ambitious but necessary targets, they have opted for their “green” plan which will not block the growth of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and was specifically designed to spare the big polluters, the oil companies.

The Bloc Québécois can only conclude that the paralysis that afflicted the Committee’s consideration of Bill C-377 was the result of a debate. It was the result of a purely ideological choice on the part of the Conservatives who once again disregarded Quebeckers’ wishes to see the federal government do more to fight global warming.