Canada quits Kyoto climate pact

(CNN) -- Canada officially renounced the expiring Kyoto Protocol on Monday, a day after international negotiators agreed to extend the treaty's limits on carbon emissions blamed for a warming climate.

Environment Minister Peter Kent said Ottawa would keep working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and help negotiate a new framework for a global pact. But in a statement to reporters on his return from last week's climate conference in South Africa, Kent said that for Canada, Kyoto "is in the past."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government has long opposed the Kyoto protocol, and Kent told delegates at last week's Durban conference that the previous government never should have agreed to it. He said Kyoto's goals were unworkable because the United States and China, the world's two largest sources of carbon emissions, never agreed to the treaty.

The opposition New Democratic Party has accused the government of "standing up for big polluters" at the expense of ordinary Canadians and risking the country's reputation by abandoning Kyoto.

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Parents urge quick passing of anti-bullying law

Jamie Hubley had plans, he want to start a Rainbow Club at his school to help other students who, much like him felt like outsiders due to their sexual orientation. He killed himself instead becoming the poster child of bullying victims who resort to suicide as the only option.

It was Jamie’s story that prompted Premier Dalton McGuinty to announce legislation last week containing tougher consequences for bullies, including expulsion or counselling . Jamie’s parents, Ottawa city councillor Allan Hubley and his wife, Wendy, were at the Ontario Legislature on Wednesday, where they met with Mr. McGuinty and opposition members to impress upon them the urgency of putting aside their partisan differences and quickly passing the legislation into law. "We lost our boy. They can't bring him back, but there's other kids who are at risk. The longer they take, there's going to be more Jamies." Mr. Hubley told the Globe and The Mail. 


The proposed legislation provides a rare opportunity for the new minority government in Ontario to work together with the Official Opposition. Progressive Conservative education critic Elizabeth Witmer introduced her own anti-bullying private member’s bill the same day the Liberals unveiled their legislation. “Obviously, there are different groups that would like to hijack the agenda,” Mr. Hubley said.“We’re here to say, don’t let them”


Mr. Hubley said he and his wife decided to go public with their son’s story because they did not want to see other teens endure the same experience as their son. Jamie, the middle of three children, was the only openly gay student at A.Y. Jackson Secondary School in Ottawa.


His one big hope, Mr. Hubley said, is that “Jamie’s life wasn’t lost in vain, that some good will come out of this.”


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Anti-Bullying Bill 13, Accepting Schools Act, 2011 passed in Canada

Bullying is a crime, and the fact that is not regarded as such or contemplated in law -until now at least in Canada- is a mistake that needs to be fixed, since when a victim of bullying reaches a point where or she takes their own life as a result of this, the words uttered are the weapon used and the criminal remains unpunished, as there is no real law or course of action to address this issue.


But the Canadian Government has decided, after the suicide of Jamie Hubley; son of Allan Hubley, an Ottawa city councillor, to amend its laws and fix this. Now finally, the Ontario government’s planned anti-bullying legislation, the Accepting Schools Act, will mandate consequences — beyond mere suspension — for bullying. The Conservatives want rules for reporting and investigating, plus remedial treatment for bullies, not just a pointless suspension. In some cases, the bully will have to be expelled just to keep victims safe. 


Education is key, and bullies most of the time see suspension as a reward more than a punishment. Social networks and cyber-bullying are the new way of doing this. Pushing and shoving kids at school just don't have the same effect anymore, words spread on social networks such as facebook, twitter and so on do more harm, so even if the Act is enabled, how will this bullying be policed?


Improving education at schools on gay rights and sexual preferences from an early age, without it becoming controversial would bring normalcy to it, something that has been already done in school systems such as Sweden's for the past 30 years.


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