Harper Defends Killing of Climate Change Bill

Legislation to reduce Canada’s carbon emissions was voted down in the Senate, despite being approved by the House of Commons.

The Climate Change Accountability Act set targets to slash greenhouse emissions 25 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020, and was passed by the House in May. On Tuesday, Conservative senators voted down the legislation, infuriating opposition MPs who said the quashing of a House-approved bill by unelected senators was unprecedented. Stephen Harper defended the senate vote, despite having frequently railed against the fact that senators are unelected in the past, calling their appointment process undemocratic. He said the climate change bill set unrealistic targets and would have necessitated shutting down entire sections of the economy, throwing thousands, if not millions, of Canadians out of work.