Happy Canada Day!
First things first, a resounding Happy 139th Birthday to Canada! You don't look a day over 137!
Liberals Face Reality; Ambrose Vindicated?
It's nice to finally see a senior Liberal acknowledge a simple reality: no matter how much hot air we emit about Kyoto, we're not going to meet our obligations under the Protocol. No less than Stephane Dion, one of the folks who helped negotiate Canada's terms and a former environment minister, said:
“In 2008, I will be part of Kyoto, but I will say to the world I don’t think I [sic- should be 'we'-RGM] will make it. Everyone is saying target, target. But ... it is to be more than to reach a target. It’s to change the economy. It’s to have resource productivity, energy efficiency when we know that energy will be the next crisis for the economy of the world.”
Given how much vitriol the Liberals spent blasting Rona Ambrose for being realistic in the past session of Parliament by saying that Canada will not make it, this response from her office is not at all surprising and hints at their feeling of vindication:
“It is concerning that the Liberals were prepared to mislead Canadians on the Kyoto targets even though the former Liberal environment minister now admits the targets were unachievable.”
I say good on Dion for attempting to pull the Liberals' collective head out of the clouds and face up to reality on this major issue. He's going to take a lot of slack for such a statement, as some of his party's demagogues will no doubt be furious that one of their own has taken away a hollow stick to beat the Harper government with. I would suspect that Ambrose is smiling ear to ear having heard Dion, arguably the most credible Liberal on the environment file, say what she's been saying all along. I've got a lot of respect for Dion, and indeed always have--in case I've never told the story, I attribute a lot of credit to him for spurring my own political interest development, having received a personal response letter from him during his stint as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs regarding a Quebec issue--so it's nice that he is the one leading the way towards some Liberal realpolitik instead of mouthing empty platitudes that do nothing but denigrate well-reasoned people and serve no other purpose than to give us a 'feel-good' approach vis-a-vis other countries who have outright rejected Kyoto.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was the start of a seismic shift for the Liberals, who will increasingly come to realize that their current positions are untenable and contribute nothing to serious dialogue within this country as to how we can make a better environment for Canadians. Those who continue to cling to the fable of Kyoto will suffer a terrible political fate for a Liberal: losing. When the guy that helped negotiate Kyoto for Canada is saying that we can't meet it, that means something, and his colleagues would do well to take heed and pay attention. Otherwise, Rona Ambrose is going to be the one wielding a big stick during the fall session.
6 comments:
lol! Great minds think alike..
I like your commentary. Right on. Excellent. Rona must definitely feel vindicated, and I admire Dion for being so upfront about this, instead of playing politics.
I think he and Iggy are going to be in the final two.
I'm inclined to agree with your prognostication about Dr. Ignatieff and Dion, as I just can't see anybody else credibly making it that far. Maybe Brison, but if he wins the jokes about Liberals and crookery will be flying freely.
Hi Lois,
The comments were printed in today's National Post, with an Ottawa byline. No mention of what the circumstances where, just that he said it.
The campaigning stuff on Canada Day doesn't really bother me a whole lot, particularly given that the deadline for signing people up is just three days away. There's still work to do. It may not be in the best of taste, but nobody's going to vote against him for it...will they?
I'm not sure about Rae. I know that one of my Dal colleagues favours him, but having a former NDP premier as a candidate has virtually no appeal for a right-of-centre guy like me. I don't care for Ujjal Dosanjh either, largely because I'm originally from BC, but his performance as opposition defence critic (I've said it before, I'll say it again, why are NDP premiers handling this portfolio?) has been awful. But whatever, it's not my party and if they want to elect lefty that's their prerogative.
From a Conservative perspective, I'd be delighted if Bob Rae would win! Nothing could be better, unless of course Dalton McGuinty ran and won.
Heh, good point about Rae. If he wins, what's the point of having Jack Layton around?
I think that Harper appeals to a lot of people based on exactly what you describe there. He's pragmatic and pretty straight-forward about his intentions, two qualities that are increasingly scarce in politics today. People gravitate to that, even those who may have disagreed with him in the past.
The early deadline thing has to do with party rules, have to have a cut-off date six months prior to the leadership convention to ensure that a particular candidate can't stack his delegate representation by signing up large numbers of people right before the delegate selection meetings. A lot of people are going to be surprised after tomorrow, and you're going to see a lot of Liberals proclaiming how many people they've signed up. That's an indicator of their popular support, which is important for those DSM's.
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