Montreal philanthropist Stephen Bronfman, above, and Husky Injection Molding chief executive Robert Schad are at the core of a group of pro-Kyoto businesses leaders. The group, E-mission 55 Canada, is headed by Ottawa lobbyist Jean Paul Sirois.
The National Post
Montreal philanthropist Stephen Bronfman and Husky Injection Molding chief executive Robert Schad, above, are at the core of a group of pro-Kyoto businesses leaders. The group, E-mission 55 Canada, is headed by Ottawa lobbyist Jean Paul Sirois.
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A member of the prominent Bronfman family and an Ontario plastics industry executive are preparing to launch a vigorous campaign in favour of the Kyoto climate-change accord, breaking ranks with industry and trade associations that have been unanimously critical of Kyoto.
Robert Schad, president and chief executive of Husky Injection Molding Systems, and Stephen Bronfman, a Montreal businessman and philanthropist, are at the core of a pro-Kyoto business group that dubs itself E-mission 55 Canada. The coalition is building toward a membership of 200 companies, among them banks, insurance companies, car manufacturers, and even oil companies, E-mission 55 president and Ottawa lobbyist Jean Paul Sirois said yesterday.
The pro-Kyoto businesses will form an opposing force to the lobby by such groups as the Business Council on National Issues, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, who are pressing the federal government to back away from the 1997 agreement, which commits Canada to reducing its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 134 megatonnes -- about 20 per cent below current levels -- by 2010.
Mr. Schad said he thinks a small but vocal group is driving the anti-Kyoto agenda. "I look at this as a scaremongering approach of certain business groups that will see a reduction in their revenue, like the gas industry or some of the car manufacturers who are afraid that the highly profitable utility vehicles are going to be replaced by energy-efficient smaller cars that are not as profitable," he said.
E-mission 55 begins a blitz this month with newspaper ads, television commercials and dinners held by cabinet ministers and executives.
The group takes its inspiration from the European E-mission 55, a coalition of businesses formed last July with the goal of convincing 55 nations that produce 55 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions to ratify the protocol -- the number needed for the international agreement to come into force.
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