An ambitious vision for environmental progress
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service
Published: Saturday, March 08, 2008
OTTAWA -- A Canadian bill of green rights is one of the cornerstones of a new federal road map towards environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's officials and opposition MPs were told Friday.
The message was delivered by leaders of the country's 11 largest environmental groups who met with Harper's office and other federal leaders to deliver a pocket-sized 28-page summary of their plans. The proposal -- Tomorrow Today: How Canada can make a world of difference -- recommended several new measures and policies for Canadians to address climate change, energy use, food production, toxic substances, water, forests and oceans, including a new tax of at least $30 per tonne on greenhouse gas emissions in 2009 that would rise to $75 per tonne by 2020.
"This is quite simply the most ambitious, the most comprehensive vision for environmental progress that has been produced in a generation, and we're very pleased to be hear this morning to launch this document," said Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence at a news conference with the other groups.
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