OTTAWA -
The Conservatives stunned the Commons on Tuesday by supporting an opposition motion to meet the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol, in apparent contradiction of their own frequently stated policies.
The Bloc Quebecois motion was passed unanimously, a rare occurrence in the Commons.
It calls for the government to urgently set absolute targets for cutting greenhouse emissions so as to achieve the objectives of Kyoto and as a preliminary condition for establishing a carbon exchange market in Montreal.
The government has repeatedly said it does not plan to set absolute targets for cutting emissions, but rather "intensity targets'' which would allow emissions to rise with economic growth.
"I'm not sure the government understood what it just voted,'' said New Democrat MP Paul Dewar.
Liberal environment critic David McGuinty said that if the government was serious about its support for the motion, it's the biggest flip-flop ever seen from the Conservative government.
But Environment Minister John Baird seemed to interpret the motion differently.
When asked if the government really supports absolute targets he said, "I think the motion speaks to absolute reduction and I have said for some time I support the need for real reductions.''
Reminded that the motion refers to absolute targets, not just reductions which might be very small, Baird replied:
"When you say greenhouse gases are going up, we want them to get them to go down. Really. Absolutely. I mean, I think that's what Canadians want.
"I mean, we can debate language till the cows come home. I think what Canadians want to see is they want to see a plan that sees greenhouse gases go down, not up. And that's what our plan will speak to.''
McGuinty speculated that the government supported the motion in a bid to prevent controversy that could overshadow their long-awaited regulations for cutting industrial emissions, to be announced Thursday.
He expects the regulations to be based on intensity targets, and he does not expect them to reflect the Kyoto targets, despite their support for the Bloc motion.
Only last week the Conservatives warned that fulfilling the emissions- cutting objectives of the Kyoto treaty would cause massive economic damage.
