Canadian Tories Environment Plan Leaked

Environmentalists say they have obtained a leaked draft of the federal government's long-promised Clean Air Act, and they're not impressed. The bill amounts to little more than a set of minor amendments to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), according to a team of environmental lawyers who studied the draft.

"First they promised a made-in-Canada plan and there is no plan. Then Prime Minister Harper promised a new Clean Air Act. Now we know there isn't one," said Beatrice Olivastri, head of the Friends of the Earth Canada.

"Based on the draft reviewed, this bill is mainly housekeeping and minor adjustments in language. It shuffles air pollution and greenhouse gas provisions to a new section of CEPA." Olivastri said the bill does not appear to enhance federal regulatory authority to curb greenhouse gases or other pollutants. Previous federal efforts to set national air-quality standards have run aground over provincial reluctance to regulate polluters within their jurisdiction.

According to the environmentalists, the draft bill would give the provinces more authority over pollution, making national standards even harder to attain.

"There are no new (federal) powers and standards," said John Bennett, executive director of the Climate Action Network.

"This is a significant delay tactic," said Stephen Hazell, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada. "Obviously, this means that there is no Clean Air Act. We're still waiting."