Elizabeth May: Demise of climate bill was undemocratic

Unelected members of the Senate killed legislation approved by MPs

By Elizabeth May, Times Colonist | November 20, 2010

The Stephen Harper-controlled Senate delivered a brutal blow to climate action — and democracy itself — this week when it killed the Climate Change Accountability Act.

The NDP private members bill, which passed the House of Commons last May, required five-year plans to tackle reductions in greenhouse gases based on targets derived from scientific advice.

Prime Minister Harper labelled the bill “irresponsible,” and claimed it threatened “millions” of Canadian jobs.

The bill, however, did not dictate specific polices. It was up to the government to choose how the targets were met. The facts do not support the claim that it is impossible to meet targets without losing millions of jobs.

Sweden has reduced emissions to eight per cent below 1990 levels while growing its economy by 44 per cent over the same time period.

A carbon-reduction plan could create hundreds of thousands of jobs by eliminating waste of energy — and 60 per cent of the energy we use is wasted.

An aggressive retrofit program would employ carpenters, electricians and other trades. Improving mass transit could cut greenhouse gases while creating jobs. Moving more goods from highway to rail transport would also improve highway safety and air quality. More jobs would be created in the shift to renewable energy.

No one denies that the bill’s targets were daunting and aggressive, but it was passed by the majority of MPs before being defeated by unelected Conservative senators on the eve of United Nations climate negotiations in Mexico.

Harper has railed on about the anti-democratic nature of the Senate — but then he stacked it and pulled a sucker-punch move that no opposition senators saw coming. The bill was defeated in a surprise vote before making it to committee.

The last time a House bill was defeated by the Senate, without being referred to committee, was more than 80 years ago.

Traditionally, the unelected Senate, recognizing it lacks legitimacy, has trod softly. There have usually been long and slow dances between the two sections of our Parliamentary system. Bills are occasionally amended in the Senate and sent back to the House for consideration. More rarely, the Senate will defeat a House bill after committee hearings.

Unlike the United States, our system of government lacks checks and balances. In Parliamentary tradition, abuse of power has been constrained by respect for unwritten rules.

For example, no prime minister ever asked the governor general to prorogue the House to avoid a confidence vote — until Harper. No previous prime minister, anywhere in the British Commonwealth, has had the gall to break that unwritten rule. No previous prime minister has repeatedly elevated his power to dictate to the House of Commons — whether through refusal to release documents, or refusing to honour subpoenas to PMO staff to appear before House committees or by announcing an extension to the Afghanistan mission with no vote in the House.

As egregious as it was to see the climate change bill defeated, even more breathtaking was the ruthless use of the Senate to kill a bill the prime minister couldn’t defeat through democratic means.

Harper’s political acumen is reportedly admired. No previous Canadian political leader has been capable of such cunning.

But Canadians must not be silent. Our climate is under assault. Democracy itself is being dismembered. The prime minister shows no compunction in breaking the unwritten rules.

A prime minister whose political tactical sense is unconstrained, constantly reaching to expand his powerful grasp on all levers of government, is a danger to our survival as a democracy.

Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party of Canada, is the party’s nominated candidate in Saanich-Gulf Islands.

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