By April Fong
The environment is being used and abused once again, but this time federal politicians are the culprits.
Sure, Mother Nature has given us something to talk about in the past few months. While the West Coast battled high winds and snowstorms in December, Ontario was sitting pretty, waiting for winter to arrive.
The political environment has been just as stormy, as all parties scramble to criticize and bring forward green initiatives.
Canadians are demanding more, too. Environmental policy is now the top priority of Canadian voters and the area of most dissatisfaction with government performance, according to a Decima Research survey released Jan. 4.
Some 19 per cent of respondents said the environment was the issue that concerned them the most, followed by health care at 13 per cent.
And now an MP best known for his rhetoric, John Baird, has replaced the embattled Rona Ambrose as environment minister.
It’s a post that no one paid much attention to. But now, the environment file has become the most critical in government – the issue that Harper and the Conservatives see as one to defend. And defend well.
In a press conference after Baird’s swearing-in ceremony, Harper told reporters that his party needed “to do more on the environment.”
Actually, they need to do a lot more. While everyone else is going green, Harper and the Conservatives have to do whatever they can from looking too blue.
The Liberals helped place the environment on the political agenda in December, choosing the man with the green scarf around his neck, Stéphane Dion, as their party leader.
Then, in his first major speech as Liberal leader, the former environment minister highlighted the economy, social justice and of course, the environment, as the party’s main priorities.
Pundits have also pointed to the Green Party’s increasing popularity, and how Elizabeth May “flowers” as its new leader. Her poise and intelligent commentary have brought environmental consciousness to media headlines.
But where are the New Democrats in this fray? The environment is usually the NDP’s signature turf while the Greens used to be on the fringe.
NDP Leader Jack Layton must be squirming. The Dion and May effect is squeezing the New Democrats off the environment platform that Layton usually stands on.
Then again, after former Liberal Wajid Khan defected to the Tories, Layton and his NDP now hold the balance of power in the House of Commons. With more leverage to extract concessions from the Conservatives in exchange for his support, Layton may be able to help rewrite the much-criticized Clean Air Act.
More important, his new role in Parliament helps bring the NDP voice back to the centre of the environmental fight.
At a time when global warming and climate change can no longer be ignored, suddenly Canada is looking through a green lens. It’s a start, but what we really need is a commitment that lasts longer than election campaigns.
After all, green, so to speak, has become the new black of politics on the Hill.