Click here to go directly to the petition at the bottom of this page

To read the complete text of Bill C-288, click here. The Kyoto Protocol was signed by Canada on April 29, 1998 and ratified in 2002. However, the Conservative Government is opposed to its application.

In response to the CAA Public Opinion Survey of 2006, 91% of Canadians indicated they were concerned about climate change, and only 31% of Canadians agree with the Conservative government's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol in favour of a made-in-Canada approach, while 64% of Canadians support the Kyoto Protocol over a made-in-Canada initiative.(1) As early as 2002, a CROP survey revealed that 81% of Canadians were in agreement with the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and that only 9% were in disagreement.(2)

In 2002, Mr Stephen Harper ridiculed the Kyoto Protocol as “ essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations ... Implementing Kyoto will cripple the oil and gas industry” in a letter, signed by him.(3)

Recent statistics have revealed that the volume of Canadian emissions has increased by 24% since 1990, while under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada had committed to reduce its emissions by 6% by 2012 from the 1990 levels.(4)

Chronology:

• April 19, 1998; Canada signs the Kyoto Protocol.
• December 2002; Canada ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.
• May 17, 2006; Mr Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal member of Parliament for Honoré-Mercier, introduces Bill C-288.
• February 14, 2007; Bill C-288 is adopted at its 3rd reading by the House of Commons, with 161 votes in favor (the 3 opposition party members) and 113 against (the Conservative party members).
• April 19, 2007; the Minister of the Environment, the Honourable John Baird, announces that under Bill C-288, the changes to the Canadian economy would result in a decline in GDP by over 6.5% from expected levels in 2008. This would result in a recession comparable to the one in 1981-1982. The price of gasoline would rise by 60%.(5)
• April 26, 2007; Mr. Baird unveiled the Conservative party’s new Green plan, which was immediately qualified as “not enough” by Mr. David Suzuki and a “complete and total fraud” by Mr. Al Gore. The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Mr. Yvo de Boer, declared that “Canada's less ambitious climate-change plan cannot guarantee that greenhouse gas emissions will actually go down”.

The environmental cost:

• It is urgent to act on climate change, because the planet could reach a tipping point within just a few years. The thawing of the permafrost in the Arctic alone would add billions of tons of methane into the atmosphere, a green house gas 20 times more potent than CO2.
• Some 20 to 30 percent of all species face a "high risk of extinction" should average global temperatures rise another 1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius from their 1990 levels.(6)
• Scientists gathered at a UN meeting in Brussels in April 2007 announced that by 2080, water shortages could threaten 1.1 billion to 3.2 billion.(7) Conversely, the increase in sea levels could displace 1 billion people inhabiting coastal areas. This large number of "ecological refugees" would have serious repercussions for the whole planet, including stark financial ones.(8)

The political cost:

• Approval of Bill C-288 by the Senate is the best way to force the Conservative government to meet Canada's obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. All other coercive initiatives, although commendable and well intentioned, will likely be ignored by the current Conservative government.
• The Conservative senators are trying their best to filibuster Bill C-288 and de-rail the democratic process. Here is an example; on May 17, 2007, the Conservative senators tried to artificially extend the Senate session until midnight to prevent the committee from voting on the Kyoto Protocol implementation legislation. The Conservative stalling tactic failed, enabling Liberal Senators to pass the bill in Committee.

Petition supporting the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act
(Bill C-288)

Can I do more?

• Ask your friends to download and sign this petition. Click here to send an e-mail in English or in French. If this function is not compatible with your e-mail software, you can copy-and-paste the ready-made text from the following pop-up window in English or in French into a blank e-mail.
• Collect signatures on paper around you (at work, school, etc.). To download the form, click here.

We would now like to invite you to;
	visit our campaign on banning plastic bags
	visit our campaign on mercury and tuna
	visit our campaign on environmentally-friendly shrimp