The Climate Change Accountability Act

The Climate Change Accountability Act was originally tabled in October 2006 in the Canadian House of Commons as Bill C-377 by Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada. It passed 3rd reading in that House with the support of caucuses of the Liberal Party of Canada, the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP (the Conservative Party of Canada, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, voted against it). However, due the 2008 Canadian federal election ending the parliamentary session prematurely, the bill did not achieve royal assent despite reaching the Senate. On February 10, 2009 Bruce Hyer, NDP MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, seconded by Layton, reintroduced it as a Private Member's Bill, renamed as Bill C-311. The Bill requires the Canadian federal government to set regulations to attain a medium-term target to bring emissions 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, and a long-term target to bring emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. According to the summary, the purpose of this bill is:

"to ensure that Canada meets its global climate change obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing to a long-term target to reduce Canadian greenhouse gas emissions to a level that is 80% below the 1990 level by the year 2050, and by establishing interim targets for the period 2015 to 2045. It creates an obligation on the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to review proposed measures to meet the targets and submit a report to Parliament. It also sets out the duties of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy."[1]



The Climate Change Accountability Act is based on the Case for Deep Reductions report by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy and on guidelines set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These are the same emissions targets adopted by the European Union and announced as objectives of U.S. President Obama's New Energy For America strategy. The Bill is noteworthy in that it was the first legislation in the world to pass a democratically-elected parliament which mandated hard emissions reductions for the post-Kyoto Protocol period (after 2012)."


Subject: Climate Action Needed: Pls support Bill C-311

Note: The vote is on Oct. 21 so please write asap!

Notes below from Jan Slakov
"Dear friends,

We know that the world is headed on a course that almost inevitably means we hit "the great unraveling" rather than the "great turning" for the news about climate change is very dire.

It is hard to know how best to act in the face of this knowledge. I would say that, right now, one of the best things we can do is send messages, especially to Liberal MPs, to urge them to support Bill C-311, as many of them did last year. Now some of them are claiming that the economic situation means they need more time... but we all know that if we stall forever, ... well, things will be even worse. (The other really important thing to do is to cut emissions- at home, in our workplaces, our communities- right now, not waiting for any targets to be passed.)

One of my friends has been working very hard on the Bill C-311 effort. She is in regular contact with Bruce Hyer's office, Bruce being the NDP MP who is putting forward Bill C-311 as a private member's bill.

An excerpt from a letter she wrote shows why she cares so much:

"My daughter sometimes cries at night, just before she goes to bed, when the shield of pretending that the world is okay drops away. She knows, as so many don’t, the facts, the truth. She carries the heavy burden of facing a world that is likely doomed to environmental catastrophe, the burden of trying so hard to change this fate and failing. She knows that our politicians are doing virtually nothing to provide for her future or for the future of the rest of the world’s children and unborn. As a youth it is understandably so hard for her to accept this fate or to accept the attitude of the number of people that don’t understand or care.

Do you have any idea of how it feels to have your 17-year-old daughter go to bed crying over such worldly concerns? Yet my pain may well be easier than the pain that many of you on our federal Environment Committee may face in the future – those of you that have young children now or plan to have children."

You can read the entire letter at:


http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=3363

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Now, here is the list of some Liberals who would likely help pressure their colleagues on the Environment Committee to stop holding this bill up:

Glen Pearson, Kirsty Duncan, Ken Dryden, Matha Hall Findlay , Carolyn Bennett, Hedy Fry. YOUR MP?

(To get their phone #, just call the Reference Canada # in the blue pages: 1-800-667-3355. In general, you can send e-mails by using this formula: first 5 letters of the last name and the first letter of the first name @parl.gc.ca. So, Glen Pearson would be: .)

And, the members of the Environment Committee are:

Environment Committee Members – for Bill C-311


David J. McGuinty (Liberal)

McGuiDa@parl.gc.ca or mcguida0@parl.gc.ca

(613) 992-3269


Francis Scarpaleggia (Liberal)



(613) 995-8281


Mark Warawa (Conservative)



(613) 992-1157

James Bezan (Conservative)



(613) 992-2032


Peter Braid (Conservative)



(613) 996-5928



Blaine Calkins (Conservative)



(613) 995-8886



Jeff Watson (Conservative)



(613) 992-1812



Stephen Woodworth (Conservative)



(613) 995-8913



Bernard Bigras (BQ)



(613) 992-0423



Christian Ouellet (BQ)



(613) 947-8185



Linda Duncan (NDP)

Duncan.L@parl.gc.ca

(613) 995-7325

** Bruce Hyer's office would appreciate copies of your e-mails. This is one way we can thank them for all the work they are doing! Send messages of support and/or copies to . (Their phone # is (613) 996-4792.)
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It is interesting to see what members of the committee have been saying. I am really impressed with Bruce Hyer. He speaks of personal changes he made, such as putting his car aside and using a bike ("at my age" ... I think in his early 60s) and I believe he is very happy to work in a non-partisan way for our future. (I find it very hard to accept when many politicians use the climate issue mainly to score points off each other, rather than to connect to their caring and DO SOMETHING.)

You can see what they are saying at:


http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4005941&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2








The Bloc québecois has been consistent in its willingness to help all of Canada do something serious on climate change; if you write to them please acknowledge that. (I can send you a copy of a recent exchange I had with their env. critic, Bernard Bigras, if you would like.)

And here is an example of one letter I wrote, this one to the Liberal Env. critic, MP Dalton McGuinty:

subject: If not C-311, what do you propose?

Dear David McGuinty,

I just read over the proceedings from the Environment Committee's
meeting on June 18, when Mr. Hyer was a witness regarding his Private
Member's Bill, Bill C-311.

Like Mr. Hyer, I thank you for voting for the same bill, when it was
brought to a vote in the previous parliament.

I was saddened to see that now you seem to want to hold this bill up,
citing changed circumstances as the reason for that. Certainly, there
are lots of questions that it would be good to find answers for
regarding how we should restructure our economy, so that we do not
destroy the earth's ability to sustain future generations.

But that is no excuse to delay action! One thing that has changed is
that with each day that passes, it becomes more difficult to prevent
runaway climate change and the signs that our predicament is extremely
serious become increasingly more obvious. We do not need more hearings
to understand that we have no time to waste.

I hope you will do everything you can to work collaboratively with other
MPs to ensure that Canada goes to the Copenhagen summit with at least a
commitment to work towards minimal science-based goals, as set out in
Bill C-311.

What other option would you propose?

Can Canadians count on you to work with Mr. Hyer to ensure that this
bill does indeed get passed as soon as possible?

Sincerely,

Jan Slakov
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