Liberals are continuing their work on Parliament Hill today at a climate change forum that aims to fill the void left by the Harper Conservatives in the lead-up to the G8 and G20 meetings Canada is hosting.
“We’re calling for climate change to be on the agenda for this summer’s G8 and G20 meetings in Toronto and Huntsville,” said Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. “The environment will be the elephant in the room — and Canada should be leading the discussion, not hiding from it.”
Conservative Environment Minister Jim Prentice has said that Canada won’t even begin to put a plan on paper until years from now when both U.S. legislation and a binding international agreement are in place.
“This government’s idea of a climate change plan is to block international environmental treaties, while allowing Washington to establish Canada’s policies and weaken our already meagre emission reduction targets,” said Liberal Energy and Environment Critic David McGuinty. “We’re eager to work with the government to put a viable climate change plan in place, but they’ve given us nothing to work with.”
Led by Mr. McGuinty, the roundtable will include John Drexhage from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Nancy Coulas of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, Michael Cleland of the Canadian Gas Association, Matthew Bramley of the Pembina Institute and Tom Huffaker of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
Liberals advocate a Canadian cap-and-trade system that’s equitable to all regions and covers all industries, with hard caps and absolute reductions.
“This is a matter of our national sovereignty,” said Mr. McGuinty. “We can’t let Canada’s environmental policy be made in Washington. We need Canadian proposals for a continental system, to guarantee our national interests.”
The Liberal plan to fight climate change and create a strengthened, sustainable economy, includes making the most significant investment in clean energy, renewable, new energy sources, and energy efficiency this country has ever seen and quadrupling the proportion of renewable energy we use as a country by 2017.
“Clean energy leadership can protect our environment and create jobs,” concluded Mr. Ignatieff. “Conservative inaction is putting our economy and our environment at risk.”
