On ne dit pas c'est l'Amazone, mais c'est là que j'habite <robertpeffers@aol.com> a écrit dans le message de news: fa91e7e7-119b-4394-984a-6ffdba148e08@d61g2000hsa.googlegroups.com... Opposition hammers Harper on climate Commonwealth plan would have doubled emissions, PM says Nov 29, 2007 04:30 AM The Canadian Press OTTAWA-Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the Commonwealth's original climate-change plan would have meant a doubling of greenhouse gas emissions over the next 50 years. Harper told the House of Commons that is one reason why Canada blocked an agreement last weekend in Uganda, which would have seen the 53- country organization set binding targets for reductions. It's unclear what scientific studies Harper used to make the statement, but he says it would have been irresponsible to agree to a deal that would have forced some countries, but not all, to cut emissions. The opposition Liberals and Bloc Québécois took turns hammering the Conservatives over the results of the Commonwealth summit, which critics have said shamed Canada on the international stage. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion says he wonders whether Environment Minister John Baird will sabotage next week's United Nations conference on climate change in Bali, Indonesia, the way Harper sabotaged the Commonwealth summit. The meeting in Indonesia is aimed at negotiating a new international treaty to succeed the 1997 Kyoto accord. Harper is under fire for refusing to back a proposal at the Commonwealth meeting to set binding targets on greenhouse gas emissions that would have exempted developing countries. Instead, he helped broker a compromise in which members pledged to work toward undefined "aspirational" goals on emissions. He called the Kyoto Protocol a "mistake" the world must never repeat and served notice that Canada will not support a new international treaty that carries its fatal flaw. Harper said Kyoto slapped binding targets on three-dozen countries but not the rest, including some of the worst polluters such as the U.S. and China. Yesterday, the Quebec legislature came out against Harper's position and reaffirmed its commitment to reaching greenhouse gas reduction targets. Members of all three parties in the legislature voted in favour of a motion dissociating the national assembly from Harper's stand and expressing "disagreement ... with the Canadian government's position on climate change." With files from Peter Gorrie