Kill the Senate that killed the bill

NDP MP Megan Leslie:

Last week, the Senate of Canada voted to defeat Canada’s only piece of federal climate change legislation, Bill C-311, The Climate Change Accountability Act. This legislation had passed twice in the House of Commons, the first time in 2008 and the second in May 2010.

This forward-thinking bill would have set firm targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. With short- and long-term goals, it would have held the government accountable through regular reports to Canadians on the achievement of these goals and made Canada a leader in the fight against catastrophic climate change.

Despite Parliament’s support and adoption of this bill, the unelected, unaccountable Senate voted down and killed this much needed legislation in a snap vote at second reading. The Senate killed the bill before they studied it or even heard from expert witnesses. It is virtually unprecedented for the unelected Senate to defeat a bill passed by the elected House of Commons.

From the outset, the Conservative government has been vocal and unabashed in its opposition to this legislation. But as Stephen Harper was unable to kill the bill in the House of Commons, he turned to his unelected, unaccountable Conservative sycophants in the Senate to kill it. Harper has once again demonstrated his lack of commitment to honour the wishes of Canadians who want strong climate change legislation.

Shame on the five Nova Scotian Conservative senators who voted to kill this bill, considering the majority of Nova Scotian MPs supported this legislation. Shame on the Liberal senators who did not vote — because they were not in the House. These unelected senators have acted against the interests and the wishes of Canadians who never had a say in their appointments.

We, along with our New Democratic colleagues, will not let this issue lie without a fight. We will continue to advocate for government accountability on climate change and continue to work to our party’s position of abolishing the Senate.