http://www.trunity.net/climateresponse/articles/view/147289/

 

Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act passed third reading in the House of Commons on May 5th, 2010. Conservative MPs voted against it, while the majority of Opposition MPs supported it. The Bill is now before the Senate.

If passed into law, the Act will require the Canadian federal government to set regulations to bring emissions 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The Act will require the government to produce five year target plans, establish independent reviews and punish polluters who break regulations.

Of the total 104 Senators:
50 are Conservatives
49 are Liberals
2 are Progressive Conservatives
3 are Independents

Note: of the Conservatives, 13 were appointed by Mulroney, nominated the 'greenest Prime Minister' by Corporate Knights.

Sample Message to Senators

Dear Senator,

The climate crisis represents the most urgent challenge of our time. Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases is essential to avoid catastrophic changes in our climate that threaten millions of people with drought, famine, extreme weather events and rising sea levels. By acting decisively to reduce its emissions, Canada can also be a leader in energy conservation and clean, renewable energy.

I am asking all Parliamentarians to join together to ensure that Bill C-311 (The Climate Change Accountability Act) becomes law. Bill C-311, which was passed by the majority of elected officials on May 5th, will ensure that Canada follows the best scientific analysis of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by setting science-based targets to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and by requiring effective accountability measures to meet those targets.

Passing this crucial legislation will send a clear message to the world community: Canada is once again prepared to show leadership in tackling climate change. We hope you will take action now to ensure that Canada plays a leading role in stopping dangerous climate change and making the global transition to a low-carbon economy.

Canada once demonstrated its leadership on this issue during Prime Minister Mulroney’s time in office when Canada became the first industrialized country to ratify the climate change convention agreed to at the UN Conference on the Environment.

In a speech when Corporate Knights honoured him as ‘Greenest PM in Canadian History’, Brian Mulroney stated: “The most compelling environmental challenge facing the world today is global warming. In Toronto in 1988, we hosted the first international scientific conference on climate change. The scientists gathered there told us in clear, unambiguous language the nature of the challenge we were facing. In their consensus statement, they concluded: "Humanity is conducting an unintended, uncontrolled, globally pervasive experiment, whose ultimate consequences are second only to global nuclear war." For his full speech, visit: http://www.corporateknights.ca/web-stories/298-brian-mulroney-greenest-pm.html

Recently Canadian and American scientists have stated unequivocally that anthropogenic climate change is supported by the science and that action is required: Open Letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper (letter signed by 800 leading Canadians scientists); and Climate Change and the Integrity of Science - letter signed by members of the National Academy of Sciences).

Please ensure that Bill C-311 becomes law.
Sincerely,

[Your name and email address]

 

Click here for a complete list of Senators.