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No faith in Harper on climate
News Articles | Globe and Mail | Kalli Anderson | December 09, 2009
Read the full article on the originating site
With the United Nations climate change conference under way in Copenhagen, the majority of pundits in Quebec have already given up all hope that Stephen Harper’s participation in the international meeting will be anything short of an embarrassment.
Le Soleil kicked off the pessimism parade early in the week with an article quoting translated sections of Guardian columnist George Monbiot’s recent scathing attack on Canada’s climate change record in which he called Canada “a thuggish petro-state” and “one of the greatest obstacles to a deal in Copenhagen.”
The next day, La Presse columnist Alain Dubuc tried in vain to remain upbeat. He pointed out that the Prime Minister had at least decided to attend the conference and he acknowledged that the government’s most recent 2020 emissions reduction targets are in line with those of the Obama administration. But then Mr. Dubuc remembered that, according to recent studies Canada isn’t on track to reach its 2020 targets. “We can console ourselves by saying that our objectives are similar to those of the United States,” Mr. Dubuc wrote. “But there is a big difference. President Obama no doubt wants to exceed his targets, whereas, the Harper government probably won’t even achieve the minimum.”
In her column published on the opening day of the conference, Le Devoir’s Manon Cornellier criticized Mr. Harper for failing to prioritize green technology and innovation. Ms. Cornellier opined that the Harper government’s much vaunted economic stimulus plan was a missed opportunity to “leave future generation not only debt, but also sustainable jobs and the foundations of a forward-thinking economy.”
On the same day, Ms. Cornellier’s colleague Josée Boileau emerged as perhaps the only Quebec pundit still trying to hold onto some measure of optimism for this week’s talks in Copenhagen. Ms. Boileau agreed with Ms. Corneiller’s criticism of the Harper government. She accused the government of propping up the oil and gas industry while still “dragging its feet at every meeting devoted to the environment.” However Ms. Boileau remained optimistic that the presence of other “more determined” leaders (including Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Nikolas Sarkozy) might counteract some of Mr. Harper’s immovability. She also declared the active participation of the United States and China to be a sign that “the world is no longer closing its eyes” to the problem of climate change.
Blogue post of the Week
On her blog for l’Actualité, Chantal Hébert grades the four leaders of the federal opposition parties in her year-end report card.
She gives the top mark – a B – to Jack Layton, who she says should win the “Teflon award” for surviving both the collapse of his party’s coalition with the Liberals as well as a third of his caucus voting in favour of abolishing the gun registry.
Gilles Duceppe gets a modest C+ for being a “model of coherence” in the House of Commons. But Ms. Hébert scolds Mr. Duceppe for allowing his party to become less popular than the PQ in Quebec, a development she attributes to his party’s lack of “panache.”
Ms. Hébert gives Michael Ignatieff a D and warns that if he doesn’t get his act together soon, he risks being “notably absent from next year’s political report card.” Burn.
And finally, a big fat F to The Green Party’s Elizabeth May. Ms. Hébert musters some faint praise for the party’s relative popularity among young people, but then scolds Ms. May for her barely noticeable presence in the political landscape and for her failure to redeem herself after her poor performance in (last year’s) leaders debate.
Tagged with: copenhagen, stephen harper, globe and mail, quebec
