Now for The News: Finally, Conservative John Baird is half-interested in the environment

According to The Canadian Press, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says “the next federal election will be fought over the environment,” to which I would sincerely add, “or what’s left of it.”

Per capita Canadians produce the third highest amount of carbon emissions on the planet, lagging only slightly behind the USA and Australia.

Later Dion joined NDP Leader Jack Layton and and Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe in signing a pledge to push the Conservative government to honour Canada’s Kyoto Protocol commitment which calls for a minimum 25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister John Baird declined to sign and Baird spouted, “I’m more interested in action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions rather than cheap political stunts.”


Unfortunately, what Baird calls action is doing less with more i.e. attempting to cut emissions by 20 per cent (less) from 2006 levels (more) by 2020. Trying to do more “would wipe out big pieces of the economy” he wrote to the Climate Action Network.

I would write, and doing less will wipe out big pieces of the environment.

If Mr. Baird loves the economy so much, why isn’t he the Economy Minister? Is it because there isn’t another federal Conservative even half-interested in the environment, or what’s left of it?

[Please sign the petition to impeach Conservative MP Tom Type B Lukiwski for boneheaded remarks at Four Mugs]