Opposition MPs and environmental activists said Canada is going into global warming talks empty-handed after a majority of Conservative senators voted down a climate-change bill.
The Commons passed the bill in May, and it went to the Senate for final approval, where a snap vote yesterday killed the bill by a margin of 43-32.
The legislation calls for greenhouse gases to be cut 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Bruce Hyer, who introduced the bill, said he was “shocked” that the bill was killed by the Senate.
“That’s bad for three reasons,” said Hyer. “It’s really bad for the environment; second, the government is going to Cancun for a UN meeting with no plan at all … and the worst is, this sets a deeply disturbing precedent for our parliamentary system.”
NDP Leader Jack Layton said Canada now has nothing to show heading into a coming round of United Nations climate talks in Mexico.
“Canada will be one of the few, probably the only country, who has absolutely nothing,” he said.
Hyer said he asked for an emergency debate yesterday, only to have it turned down by the speaker.
He said he will reintroduce the bill at the next available opportunity.
With files from the canadian press
