The Bloc Quebecois and NDP threw their support behind a Liberal motion calling for the Conservative government to reaffirm Canada's commitment to the Kyoto protocol.
The motion passed 161-115 in the House of Commons on Monday night.
Environment Minister John Baird and his predecessor Rona Ambrose both rose to vote against the motion. Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn't present in the House of Commons for the Monday night vote, which split on party lines.
"I think the government is feeling the heat,'' said Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, who tabled the motion last week.
"My hope is that what we'll be able to achieve at the end of the day is a recognition that these Kyoto obligations are ones that we have to honour,'' said NDP Leader Layton.
A release on the Conservative website said: "Stephane Dion didn't get it done when he was environment minister ... Meanwhile, Canada's New Government will continue taking practical action to clean up our country's air, land and water."
The motion, which is non-binding, urges Parliament to acknowledge that there is "overwhelming scientific evidence" that global warming has been brought on by human activity.
The motion asks the government to honour the Kyoto goals set under the previous Liberal government.
While the motion isn't binding, the Liberals have a private member's bill before Parliament that if passed, would be binding.
Kyoto sets a six per cent cut below 1990 levels by 2012 as Canada's target (the average cut is about five per cent). However, emissions rose by 27 per cent above 1990 levels while the Liberals were in power.
Harper has said the Kyoto targets are unattainable by 2012.
Experts have said the reductions could be met by buying emissions credits abroad, but that it could cost $10 billion by 2012. The Conservatives refer to emissions credits as "hot air credits."
However, many governments approve of international trading because they say cuts can be achieved more cheaply in developing countries. Technology transfer is seen as an important "carrot" in obtaining the support of poor countries for Kyoto.
Recent developments
When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its landmark report on Friday affirming that global warming is being driven by human activity, Harper said Canada must act.
"The problem is enormous. It's large, it's long-term and there are no quick fixes to this," Harper told reporters in Ottawa last Friday. "You can't just snap your fingers and reduce Canada's energy use by one-third in the space of a couple of years."
Harper got put on the defensive last week when the Liberals unearthed a 2002 fundraising letter that Harper wrote as leader of the Canadian Alliance party.
In the letter, Harper denounced Kyoto as a socialist scheme designed to suck wealth out of Western countries. He promised his party would fight the accord.
"Ratification is merely symbolic; Kyoto will not take effect unless and until it is implemented by legislation. We will go to the wall to stop that legislation ...," he said.
The Tories did table the Clean Air Act last fall. While the proposed legislation won some praise for controlling conventional pollutants, the act made no reference to Kyoto.
The Conservatives want to regulate industry with "intensity" targets, not by putting a hard cap on emissions. Intensity targets require fewer emissions per unit, but could allow total emissions to go up as production rises.
They are currently negotiating with opposition parties in an attempt to salvage the bill.
Harper has promised to attend an as-yet-uncalled summit on climate change and the government has made several "green" energy announcements recently.
However, a Conservative MP -- Bob Mills, who chairs the House of Commons environment committee -- was cool to a post-IPCC call by France's President Jacques Chirac for a new global agency to fight climate change.
With files from The Canadian Press
