OTTAWA -- The Liberal government will hold a debate and a vote in the House of Commons next week on whether Canada should ratify the international Paris climate accord.
The debate by MPs is to begin Monday as federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna sits down in Montreal with her provincial and territorial counterparts to begin negotiating a plan to meet Canada's Paris commitments.
The outcome of next Wednesday's vote is a foregone conclusion -- given the Liberal majority -- but the outcome of the federal-provincial negotiations is not.
The Liberals have adopted the same emissions-cutting goals that were set by the previous Conservative government -- a plan to reduce greenhouse gases 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
A report this week from the Pembina Institute found that Canada's emissions are currently two per cent below 2005 levels, but have been rising slowly for the last five years.
McKenna has said Ottawa will impose a national floor price on carbon for provinces that do not adopt their own carbon tax and cap-and-trade market, a move that is opposed by Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and territorial leaders.
