On behalf of Friends of the Earth Canada, Canadian lawyer Chris Paliare and Ecojustice – formerly Sierra Legal – have submitted an application for judicial review with the Canadian Federal Court to enforce the Canadian government's compliance with the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act.
According to Ecojustice, the application alleges that the federal Minister of the Environment has failed to comply with the act, which was passed in June. Under the legislation, the government must publish a plan to comply with the country's commitments to the Kyoto Protocol. Ecojustice says that the government responded in late August with a plan that does not meet the requirements of the act.
‘This case is about being accountable to the will of Parliament,’ says Paliare. ‘By failing to comply with this law, the federal government is neither acting in a manner that is accountable to Parliament nor showing respect for the people of Canada. We are simply asking the court to declare that the government is bound by the act's requirements and to require the government to comply with it.’
