For Immediate Release
Feb. 11, 2008
OTTAWA – The CBA is urging the federal government to honour Canada’s international agreements to address climate change rather than adopting legislated targets proposed in Bill C-377, the Climate Change Accountability Act.
“Canadians are profoundly concerned about the serious consequences of climate change,” says André Turmel of Montreal, a member of the CBA’s National Environmental, Energy and Resources Law Section. “And Canada’s failure to implement the Kyoto Protocol is a breach of its international legal obligations.”
The CBA notes that Canada is entering into a number of international agreements dealing with environmental issues. “We are urging federal, provincial and territorial governments to co-operate to implement these international agreements in a timely and complete manner, as a matter of support for the rule of law,” Turmel says.
Bill C-377, says the CBA, should not be passed at this time. “Bill C-377 sets very high standards for change which are inconsistent with targets set out in existing international agreements.
“Instead, we urge the government to take steps to meet Canada’s international environmental legal obligations to address climate change,” the association wrote to the Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in a five-page letter.
André Turmel will appear before the Commons Committee on Monday, Feb. 11 at 4:30 p.m. in room 237-C, Centre Block. The CBA submission is available online at:
http://www.cba.org/CBA/submissions/pdf/08-10-eng.pdf
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Tel: (613) 237-2925, ext. 146; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
