The Conservative government said yesterday it would produce a plan to comply with Kyoto if forced to, a dramatic shift from the previous day when it dismissed legislation passed by opposition MPs that would require Canada to meet the protocol's targets for reducing greenhouse gases.
The legislation, introduced by a Liberal MP, calls on the government to present a plan to Parliament within 60 days outlining how Canada will meet its Kyoto targets. It must still be approved by the Liberal-dominated Senate.
"If and when that becomes law, the government would respect it," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons. "I would point out that the bill has no plan of action in it. The bill gives the government no authority to spend any money to actually have a plan of action."
The Prime Minister also chastised Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion for supporting the bill without also putting forward a plan to achieve the targets of a 6-per-cent emissions drop from 1990 levels by 2012.
"I guess this is what the Leader of the Liberal Party has come to. He failed so badly on his own plan, he is now asking us to produce one for him," he said.
The Prime Minister's change in tone drew cautious praise from NDP Leader Jack Layton.
"Finally, for the first time today, we got some indication that he might actually be prepared to respect our Kyoto obligations," he said yesterday.
"We've been demanding this since day one and it looks as though perhaps a corner has begun to be turned," Mr. Layton continued.
"We'll have to see in the budget. We'll have to see in the actions that he takes whether he's serious," he said.
The government and opposition have been deadlocked over Kyoto, with the opposition saying the targets are within reach and the government warning it is too late to comply without triggering economic havoc.
But there are signs the government is shifting its position so that Canada would meet its Kyoto targets, but later than the 2012 deadline.
Environment Minister John Baird noted recently that the B.C. government's plan for meeting Kyoto uses 2020 as a target date. He has asked his department to estimate how much it would cost Canada to continue into Kyoto's second, post-2012 phase, having not met the targets in the first phase.
The protocol allows countries to fall short of the targets provided they accept tougher targets than others in the second round. However, talks on a post-2012 phase are stalled.
Mr. Harper has supported calls for an emergency meeting on the issue and has said the Group of Eight is well placed to spur those discussions.
The NDP has been urging the government to consider that scenario and has suggested that may be acceptable if there are clear signs of serious effort toward the Kyoto targets.
The Conservatives will need the support of at least one opposition party to avoid being defeated over next month's budget, which is expected to include several spending announcements dealing with climate change and the environment.
Mr. Dion rejected the Prime Minister's suggestions that his party does not have a plan to meet Kyoto.
"We had a plan in April, 2005, as you know and the cost was there. It was over eight budgets, $10-billion," he said.
"The Prime Minister destroyed the plan of April, 2005. We waste a year. He cuts and he slashed billions of dollars. The only leader of a developed country who did it. So he must now come with a comprehensive plan to honour our international commitment under the Kyoto Protocol."
Former environment commissioner Johanne Gélinas concluded in a report in September that it was "difficult to say" whether Mr. Dion's plan would have been enough for Canada to meet its Kyoto obligations.
