They’ll always have Paris: Commons votes to ratify global climate deal
OTTAWA — The House of Commons voted Wednesday to ratify the Paris agreement on climate change, cementing a cornerstone of the Liberal government’s environmental policy and helping to tip the scales on the global deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
After a pair of proposed amendments went down to defeat, the motion to ratify the deal passed by a margin of 207 to 81, with the New Democrats voting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his majority Liberal caucus.
The Opposition Conservatives, who tried to amend the motion to do away with Trudeau’s controversial carbon-pricing plan, voted against ratifying the accord.
Wednesday’s vote — paired with similar expressions of support from the European Union and Nepal — means the deal comes into force in 30 days, after the number of countries ratifying the accord surpassed a key threshold.