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12 December 2002 - Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien succeeded in obtaining parliament's ratification of the Kyoto protocol Tuesday by a margin of 195 to 77.
The issue had become one of confidence in the Prime Minister meaning all Liberal MPs are required to vote in favour of it or risk consequences, however, around a dozen Liberal MPs did not attend the vote. As anticipated, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives voted against the deal.
An umbrella group of 40 Canadian business groups called the Canadian Coalition for Responsible Environmental Solutions said Tuesday's vote on the motion to ratify the Kyoto Protocol leaves many questions unanswered. "By ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, the government has decided to commit Canadians without the benefit of a detailed game plan or any clear sense of the cost to the country," Nancy Hughes Anthony, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and a coalition member, said in a news release.
Greenpeace Canada congratulated the House of Commons on its vote Tuesday. "This is a proud day for Canada, the federal government, and Greenpeace, who has been pushing for Kyoto ratification for several years," Steven Guilbeault, climate campaigner for Greenpeace, said in a news release. "Kyoto will lead to greater efficiency in our homes, our transportation systems, and our economy in general."
Greenpeace cautioned that the implementation plan not be too lenient on industrial polluters.
"Big industrial emitters represent more than 50 per cent of our domestic emissions," Mr. Guilbeault said. "It is unreasonable to make individual consumers pay for their pollution."
The Kyoto accord would require Canadian businesses to reduce emissions by 55 megatonnes, or 23 per cent of this country's 240-megatonne target for reductions, at a cost of billions of dollars. Critics say this will place Canada at a competitive disadvantage to the United States, which has rejected the treaty.
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