The Committee resumed consideration of Clause 2 and the amendment of John Godfrey, — That Bill C-30, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 6 to 16 on page 1 with the following:
“2. (1) The preamble of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 is amended by adding the following before the first paragraph:
Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to having a national carbon budget;
Whereas the Government of Canada recognizes that air pollution and greenhouse gases constitute a risk to the environment and its biological diversity and to human health of national and international concern which cannot be contained within geographic boundaries;
Whereas the Government of Canada recognizes that air pollution and greenhouse gases are matters within the jurisdiction of both the Government of Canada and the governments of the provinces;
Whereas the Government of Canada recognizes that climate change constitutes one of the most serious threats to humanity and to Canada, and poses major risks not only to the environment and the economy, but above all to the health and safety of all people;
Whereas the Government of Canada has an undeniable responsibility to respond to climate change, given that its per capita wealth is among the highest in the world and that some of the most severe impacts of climate change are already being felt in Canada, especially in the Arctic;
Whereas the Government of Canada signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which entered into force in 1994, and Parliament ratified in 2002 by a majority vote in the House of Commons and the Senate the Kyoto Protocol which entered into force in 2005 and under which Canada must honour its obligation to reduce its average annual greenhouse gas emissions during the period from 2008 to 2012 to six percent below their level in 1990;”
(2) The preamble of the Act is amended by replacing the eighth paragraph with the following:
“Whereas the federal regulatory system for toxic substances should be designed to minimize health and environmental risks posed by toxic substances and to encourage the development and use of less hazardous and ultimately non-hazardous substances and technological processes as substitutions for toxic substances;”