Environmental Policy of The Harper Government - Position On The Kyoto Accord

Position On The Kyoto Accord

One prominent policy of the government since its access to power was its position over the Kyoto Accord in which the federal government ratified the Protocol in the late 1990s. The Conservative government had criticized the Accord for having negative impacts on the environment while not providing concrete results as far as greenhouse emission reductions and proposed a new policy which met with criticism from various environmental organizations and the opposition parties.

Harper and the Conservative government criticized the Kyoto Accord on measures to fight against global warming, saying that the economy would be crippled if Canada was forced to meet the Accord's timetable to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2002, Harper wrote a letter to members of the former Canadian Alliance party, mentioning that the Accord is a "socialist conspiracy" and questioned sciences that are proving global warming and in a meeting with other Commonwealth countries in Uganda commented that Kyoto was a mistake that should not be repeated. He also stated that the Accord "focuses on carbon dioxide, which is essential to life, rather than upon pollutants." Harper considered the objectives implemented by Canada to meet its goals were not realistic and later criticized further the accord which did not set any targets for the world's biggest polluters. He proposed a "Made in Canada" plan that would concentrate its efforts on reducing smog pollution from vehicles. In a CTV report in October, however, the Conservatives had mentioned that it would be an approach rather than a plan. While repeatedly mentioning that the goals will not be achieved before the timeline, John Baird mentioned on March 17, 2007 that the government had no plans to abandon the Kyoto Accord. The Conservatives' position has been backed by five independent economists, including Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Don Drummond. Drummond, who has been consulted by political parties of all stripes, said that the "economic cost would be at least as deep as the recession in the early 1980s", agreeing with the results of a study compiled by the environment department.

Opposition members led by Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez tabled bill C-288 that would force the government to respect the measures of the Kyoto Accord and forced it to present its measures within 60 days. The bill passed third reading on February 14, 2007, 161-113. The Conservatives had appealed the Speaker of the House, Peter Milliken to make the bill invalid citing it was forcing them to spend money against its will, which was denied. While criticizing the Opposition bill as an empty law without any action plans and not giving authority to spend, Harper announced that he would respect the law, despite earlier threats by the government not to respect it. Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Don Drummond dismissed bill C-288 as unworkable. On April 19, 2007, Baird told the Canadian Senate environmental committee that respecting the Kyoto Accord would have a negative impact on the economic citing that Canada would return to a recession similar to the early 1980s while gas and natural gas prices would skyrocket despite a United Nations report that said that the impact would be minimal.

In the 2007 Throne speech, the government officially abandoned the Kyoto objectives in favour of their policies and accords with Asian and Pacific countries in which Harper joined the US-led the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate on September 24, 2007, the United States, China, Japan, India, South Korea and Australia, several among them being among the biggest polluters. The APP's plans goals are lower than the Kyoto Protocol and consists on the introduction of newer and cleaner technology including solar, coal and nuclear power.

The Conservatives withdrew Canada from the Kyoto Protocol in December 2011.