Cheryl Gallant Was The Only MP To Vote Against Paris Agreement Motion

Parliamentarians voted overwhelmingly in favour to reaffirm Canada’s continued commitment to the Paris climate agreement — except for one Conservative MP.

Cheryl Gallant cast the lone “nay” in the 277-1 vote on the government motion Tuesday.

The motion to gauge the House’s commitment to implementing the agreement was introduced by Government House Leader Bardish Chagger after the U.S. announced it was pulling out of the landmark climate accord last week.

Gallant charged that the government’s motion to renew Canada’s commitment to the Paris agreement and its intention to bring in a carbon tax are “not based on fact.”

The comment prompted a remark by Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, who was seemingly baffled by Gallant’s belated critique.

“I am a bit confused. The Paris agreement was actually negotiated with 195 countries around the world in 2015,” McKenna said.

Gallant did not respond to HuffPost Canada’s request for comment before publication.

“This is the government wanting to extend hours and then using the time for these pretend public relations exercises.”
—Conservative MP Garnett Genuis

Earlier in the day, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis accused the government of using the Paris agreement as a vehicle to implement a carbon tax, raising taxes for Canadians.

“It is not following the effective example we saw under the Harper government, which actually led to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” Genuis said, calling Chagger's motion a waste of time.

“This is the government wanting to extend hours and then using the time for these pretend public relations exercises, which actually do not have a substantive effect on outcomes on the ground.”

Genuis voted in favour of the government motion.

What's Happening In Ottawa?
Stay on top of the biggest political stories of the day with our newsletter

‘We have a responsibility to future generations’: PM

Canada was one of 195 countries that signed the voluntary landmark climate accord two years ago.

The agreement acknowledges the detrimental effects of climate change, advocating a plan to limit global temperature rise to under 2°C before 2100 with plans to reduce emissions around the world.

On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau notably spent World Environment Day kayaking in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. and paddled up to a couple standing on dock to make small talk about the high water level.

“We can’t walk away from the reality of climate change, and we won’t walk away from a global plan that has a realistic chance of fighting it,” Trudeau said in a speech the same day reaffirming Canada’s commitment to the Paris Accord.

“We have a responsibility to future generations, and we will uphold it.”

U.S. President Donald Trump announced his country’s withdrawal on Thursday, claiming continued adherence to the accord would bring disadvantages to American workers.

“We will be environmentally friendly, but we're not going to put our businesses out of work and we're not going to lose our jobs. We're going to grow; we're going to grow rapidly,” he said.

Of course, Trump’s announcement doesn’t mean America is formally out of the agreement. Although the accord is non-binding, the process of removing a signatory could take up to four years.

By then, the Trump administration could either be re-elected or replaced with a White House keen on re-joining the landmark climate accord.

Subscribe to our podcast

Also on HuffPost

How Scientists Know Climate Change Is Happening

1. The unprecedented recent increase in carbon emissions.(01 of06)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights six main lines of evidence for climate change.

First, we have tracked (see chart) the unprecedented recent increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

Without human interference, the carbon in fossil fuels would leak slowly into the atmosphere through volcanic activity over millions of years in the slow carbon cycle. By burning coal, oil, and natural gas, we accelerate the process, releasing vast amounts of carbon (carbon that took millions of years to accumulate) into the atmosphere every year. (credit:CDIAC)

2. We know greenhouse gases absorb heat.(02 of06)

We know from laboratory and atmospheric measurements that such greenhouse gases do indeed absorb heat when they are present in the atmosphere. (credit:EDF Energy)

3. Global temperatures are rising, and so is the sea level.(03 of06)

We have tracked significant increase in global temperatures of at least 0.85°C and a sea level rise of 20cm over the past century. (credit:IPCC)

4. Volcanos and sunspots cannot explain the changing temperature.(04 of06)

We have analyzed the effects of natural events such as sunspots and volcanic eruptions on the climate, and though these are essential to understand the pattern of temperature changes over the past 150 years, they cannot explain the overall warming trend. (credit:WikiCommons)

5. Earth's climate system is changing dramatically.(05 of06)

We have observed significant changes in the Earth’s climate system including reduced snowfall in the Northern Hemisphere, retreat of sea ice in the Arctic, retreating glaciers on all continents, and shrinking of the area covered by permafrost and the increasing depth of its active layer. All of which are consistent with a warming global climate. (credit:IPCC)

6. Global weather patterns are changing substantially.(06 of06)

We continually track global weather and have seen significant shifts in weather patterns and an increase in extreme events all around the world. Patterns of precipitation (rainfall and snowfall) have changed, with parts of North and South America, Europe and northern and central Asia becoming wetter, while the Sahel region of central Africa, southern Africa, the Mediterranean and southern Asia have become drier. Intense rainfall has become more frequent, along with major flooding. We’re also seeing more heat waves. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) between 1880 and the beginning of 2014, the 19 warmest years on record have all occurred within the past 20 years; and 2015 is set to be the warmest year ever recorded.

The map shows the percentage increases in very heavy precipitation (defined as the heaviest 1 percent of all events) from 1958 to 2007 for each region. (credit:Climate Communication)

What's Happening In Ottawa?

From Our Partner