Conservative Policy Convention: Environment

The Conservative Party of Canada recently held its first ever policy convention in Montreal. At that convention, delegates adopted a series of resolutions on a raft of topics. These are the the resolutions adopted under the broad headings of Environment. (The headings were chosen by the party and the resolutions were placed in various groups by the party.) Reproduced below is each resolution in the broad grouping as it was voted on by delegates. All of the following were adopted or carried by at the convention. The acronym EDA in the following stands for Electoral District Association.  The resolutions here are presented in the order in which they were voted on  by delegates. When the following documents talk about inserting new clauses or replacing new clauses, they are referring to modifying what's known as the “Base Document” — starting point for policy discussions put together by senior party officials in September, 2004. 

Environment

P-45: Environmental Principles | P-46 Contaminated Sites

P-45: Environmental Principles

It is moved that a new subclause be added to the current Clause 34:

ii) A Conservative government will:

a) initiate a review of all environment and energy initiatives, including the Kyoto Accord;

b) adopt a new approach for an environmental strategy at the international level;

c) create a program to heighten public awareness to the economic benefits of environmental solutions minimizing the wasting of resources; and

d) establish a program of tax credits to promote environmental solutions in the areas of transportation and entrepreneurial innovation, among others.”

Combined resolution reflecting Quebec and Southwestern Ontario RJPMs.

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P-46 Contaminated Sites

 It is moved that the current Clause 36 be replaced with the following:

“In cooperation with the provinces, territories and municipalities, a Conservative government will determine how many federal contaminated sites are in Canada, rank them according to the threats they pose, and provide stable long-term funding for cleanup.

A Conservative government will remove roadblocks that discourage the private sector from cleaning and developing contaminated land.

1. Amend the Income Tax Act to allow remediation expenses to be treated as a deductible expense.
2. Introduce legislation to terminate regulatory liability upon issuance of regulatory approval of remediation to encourage development of brownfields, reversible only in emergency and in cases of fraud.
3. Create an insurance fund for post-liability insurance claims. This will permit the quantification and spreading of development risk through insurance, re-insurance and diversification of ownership.
4. Provide economic incentives to the private sector to clean up contaminated lands.”

Moved by Greater Toronto RJPM 

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