Category Archives: conservative party

Public Safety

climate crisis, conservative party, ecology, economy, foreign affairs, green party

The headline on my free Metro newspaper this morning was dramatic and to the point: “Terrorists threaten Canada.” The story stems from an internet post made by an al Qaeda group that said “cutting oil supplies to the United States, or at least curtailing it, would contribute to the ending of the American occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan,” and called for attacks on Canadian petroleum facilities as one way of accomplishing that.

Of course, this isn’t really new news. Canada’s been a target of al Qaeda and similar groups since before 9/11. All the same, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day reacted by saying, “we’ve always said that Canada is not immune to threats. We take this threat seriously.” (Between the lines, it sounds like he’s almost excited to get his first real threat as Public Safety Minister, but hopefully that’s just my over-active cynicism.)

Day also added that it’s possible to protect “all of our assets, both human and structural.” (Nice to know that the protection of human life and the protection of oil drilling operations are of equal priority.)

One of the more interesting quotes, however, came from Stephen Harper, who told MPs that “the most important responsibility of government is the preservation of order and the protection of its citizens.” (And its structures. Don’t forget its structures.)

I’m not the first to point this out, but we’re currently facing an even greater threat to order and our protection. We now know that even if Harper and Bush see the light (or, say, a bunch of Green MPs get elected) and start enacting plans to actually reduce our greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, the planet will continue to get hotter for centuries. It’s past time to start thinking not just about preventing further climate change, but about how we’ll manage with the changes we’ve already set in motion.

For example, where, and how, will we grow our food? Where will our water come from? How will we deal with increased pressure from the United States and China for the freshwater in our boarders? How will we prepare against new diseases? What plan do we have for replacing all of the infrastructure we’ve built on the now-melting permafrost? How might rising ocean levels affect our coastal provinces? How can we build secure, local economies as international ones become less stable and viable? How will we keep our national economy strong as more jurisdictions like California refuse to buy our tar-sands oil because it’s too dirty?

There are answers, but there’s also much work to be done. Terrorism is a real threat that needs to be guarded against, but if our government really cares about public safety, order, and the protection of its citizens, there are other threats that deserve more of their attention.

Searching for Honourable Governance

conservative party, democracy and good government, green party, toronto

Yes, I know dear reader, I’ve been neglecting you. My apologies. Many thoughts running around in my head; very little time to convert them into words. You’ll be glad to know, however, that I’ve had a busy and productive week. We had our first Toronto Centre campaign team meeting, and we’ve got a great group of people who are excited and ready to go, whenever the election comes. I’ve also been active at the national level as our shadow cabinet continues to gear up for a solid national campaign.

Internationally, this week a bunch of Toronto Greens met with Roberta Moreno, who works for one of thirteen elected Green Party of Brazil representatives (Partido Verde). We had several great conversations over two days, and discussed ways in which we can work together on global issues.

That being said, I still believe you deserve something of substance for waiting so patiently for a new post. For that, I leave you in the capable hands of Lawrence Martin, who will walk you through an efficient summary of this government’s hypocrisies and negativity (taken from yesterday’s globe column), and conclude with what I think is good advice. Enjoy!

The environment? [Stephen Harper] was a right-wing agnostic. Now, presto! He’s a leaf-licking true believer. Health care? He was once in with the privatization crowd. Now he is statist Stephen.

Gay rights? He used to hang out in social conservative precincts. Now, so long dinosaurs; he’s the moderate man. Quebec? He believed in no special status for the province. Presto, its people are suddenly a nation.

Iraq? He supported President George W. Bush’s war. Now, he wouldn’t touch it with a barge poll…

…The Liberals lost the last election because of regime fatigue and ugly ethics. Although winning fans with his clarity and resolve, Mr. Harper has lowered himself in the eyes of many by running a one-man uptight government steeped in the politics of negativity.

It was Margot Asquith who said of Lloyd George, “He could not see a belt without hitting below it.”

Mr. Harper and his ministers are incapable of answering a question in the House without resorting to the intellectually vacuous tactic of referencing the previous government’s record and claiming it was worse. Every government does this to a certain extent. None as much as this one…

…Canadians, having seen so much of the Grits, are pretty well fed up with the old-style political skulduggery and lack of civility. They’re looking for more honourable governance, and if the Conservatives want to get out of the big stall, they would be wise to demonstrate they are capable of it.

Yay for Democracy Part I

conservative party, democracy and good government, green party, liberal party, ndp, polls

Two days ago I asked you to be skeptical of any political party that has a death-bed conversion to the world of environmental sanity. Yesterday, Decima released a poll that proves once again that every single Canadian not only reads my blog, but also does everything I say.

The poll’s most encouraging finding? You’re not buying it.

A new poll suggests Canadians view all the major federal political parties with a lot of skepticism when it comes to environmental policy.The survey by Decima Research, provided to The Canadian Press, found that respondents by a four-to-one margin see recent Conservative green announcements as being driven by public opinion, not genuine commitment.

Oh, and guess what else:

When Decima asked how respondents would vote if the environment was the only issue in the next election, the Green Party led with 24 per cent support. The Conservatives and Liberals were essentially tied, 17-16, while the NDP attracted just 10 per cent support and the Bloc Quebecois only four per cent.

I don’t expect the environment to be the only issue in the next election, but it’s a pretty darned important one. (As in, “if you don’t have a planet, then, well….”) Onward and upward.

One Year

conservative party, green party, polls

What a difference a year can make. One year ago today Canadians went to the polls, electing a new Conservative government with 36.2% of the vote, the smallest percentage ever won by a first-place party. (The Green Party, as you know, earned 4.5%, which, in a fair electoral system, would mean 14 seats.)

In that election, the environment (also known as “that thing that keeps us alive”) was not an issue that the media or the status quo parties took seriously. It did not play a significant role in any of the televised leaders’ debates, and the winning party didn’t even mention the climate crisis in their election platform once.

Today, the environment is the number one or two issue of importance to Canadians in opinion polls, features prominently in daily news stories and opinion pieces (almost to the point of exhaustion), and Stephen Harper reportedly owns a copy of An Inconvenient Truth.

Last year, it was hard to imagine our archaic electoral system being reformed any time soon. Today, Ontario has the chance to do so as soon as October, which would likely reverberate throughout the country.

Last year, people could still get away with pretending that environmentalism was bad for business. Today, CEOs of some of the largest (and most energy intensive) corporations in America are urging George W. Bush to take action on climate change, which he referred to as a “serious challenge” in his State of the Union address just a few hours ago.

The next federal election could be in less than two months. (I wish our MPs were more willing to work with each other, but here we are.) Let’s make sure we think very carefully about where we want to go from here. Let’s not settle for second best, or the lesser of any evils.

Unlike most reasonable Canadians, I’m looking forward to the next election. If we make the right choices over the next twelve months, just imagine how much better things can be one year from today.