Opposition leaders attack Martin's environmental record
Last Updated: Wednesday, December 7, 2005 | 6:22 PM ET
CBC News
"It's kind of strange to go around preaching that you believe greenhouse gases should be reduced as a number 1 priority and then you preside over a 25 per cent increase in greenhouse gas emissions," Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said while campaigning in Saint John, N.B., for the Jan. 23 federal election.
Earlier, Liberal Leader Martin stressed the need for co-ordinated international action while speaking at a conference on climage change in Montreal.
The Kyoto Protocol calls for a six per cent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2012, but Canada's have so far actually risen 24.4 per cent, while U.S. levels have grown by barely half that amount.
Paul Martin gestures as he speaks at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Montreal. (CP photo)
The Conservatives don't support the Kyoto accord, and Harper said Martin is being hypocritical when he says the Liberals do.
"Mr. Martin continues to preach the merits of Kyoto and his government's actions when all indication would be that he doesn't take it the least bit seriously."
Harper, who has yet to release the Tories' environmental policy, said he wants to come up with an alternative to Kyoto that includes countries such as the United States that have refused to sign on.
While in Montreal, NDP Leader Jack Layton also attacked the Liberals' record on the environment.
"We have one of the worst environmental records in the world. In fact, if you can believe it, our greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than those of George Bush's United States."
Green party Leader Jim Harris said the Liberals' so-called support of Kyoto creates a "false sense of security in our population."
"Instead of support [of Kyoto], under the Liberals, CO2 emission have risen by 24.4 per cent."
The Conservatives and NDP also attacked Martin's mode of transportation during the election campaign, saying the Boeing 727 plane is a fuel-guzzler.
In a release titled "Paul Martin: The High Flying Polluter," the Tories said statistics from the European Commission and the Air Transport Association of Canada show Martin's plane is noisier and burns almost double the fuel as their Airbus 320.
The NDP calculated that the Liberals would use 22,500 litres of jet fuel on a Vancouver to Ottawa flight, compared to 13,250 litres for the New Democrats' Airbus 319.
Martin said he didn't know how much fuel his Boeing 727 consumes, but defended his choice of aircraft.
"The fact is these are chartered planes. Would it be chartered by somebody else (if we didn't)?"
"If what you're saying is there are more fuel-efficient planes that we could have chartered, I suppose that's something we could look at," added Martin.
