MONTREAL - Daniel Turp, a former Bloc Quebecois MP and Parti Quebecois MNA, wants the courts to force the federal Conservatives to keep Canada in the Kyoto Treaty.
Turp says an act passed in the House of Commons in 2007 stipulates that Canada must give one year notice before withdrawing.
"The federal government in December just decided like unilaterally without consulting citizens or Parliament or provincial legislatures to withdraw from the Kyoto protocol," said Turp, who now teaches law at the University of Montreal.
"This issue is an issue for citizens to debate and I'm inviting citizens here in Quebec. Hopefully maybe someone will do it in the rest of Canada, to sign the protocol themselves and to say that they disagree and they want Quebec and Canada to abide by the commitments of the Kyoto protocol, do something about the environment, greenhouse gas effects."
Turp is known for his trademark bow-ties and his occasional moments of controversy, including his support of the controversial initiative to ban Paul McCartney from performing in Quebec City.
He denies cabinet minister Peter Kent's claims that Canada would have been forced to pay $14 billion in penalties for not meeting its Kyoto targets.
"That's not even true," said Turp. "There's no legal impediment because those norms are not binding."
Turp says that Canada does not need to shut down its oil industry in order to abide by Kyoto.
"There's other ways to do it and to provide for better ways to use petrol and oil," he said.
