Prentice’s climate announcements

June 23, 2010
Blog Post By: Elizabeth May

On the evening of the G8-G20 Summits, the Harper government has discovered that, as host, it cannot completely control the agenda. While the government convened face-to-face preliminary meetings for the G8 finance and development ministers, it broke with the precedents of decades and never invited environment ministers to Canada. Climate change was deemed, in the Prime Minister’s words, a “side-show.”

We were the first political party to make this an issue — raising it with media, talking to other G20 representatives in Canada, and holding public sessions and rallies. Huge pressure was also applied by the European Union, the government of Mexico (hosting the next climate negotiations) and Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In the last few days, it became clear that while Harper can build a fake lake, he cannot hold back the tide of the growing demands from civil society and other leaders to make some progress on the climate crisis.

So, instead of positions developed months ago and flogged around the world on finance and maternal health issues, the Harper gang is scrambling to have anything to say about climate.

The pressure is huge to eliminate subsidies to fossil fuels. The government could still do this, but a leaked memo from Finance some weeks ago left the impression that the Harper government was protecting the tar sands subsidies.

We could announce meaningful targets to reduce GHG or do as Ban Ki-Moon urged when he visited Canada and meet our Kyoto commitments.

Instead, Jim Prentice announced today that Canada would contribute $400 million from now till 2012 to the developing countries fund promised in the bogus Copenhagen Accord. It is not clear where it will find this money given that the CIDA budget is frozen. In answers to questions, Prentice said it was “new” money — leaving us wondering, “really? From what imaginary pocket in a deficit?”

The second announcement was of new regulations focused on coal-fired electricity. Shutting down coal fired power plants is the best single focus for Alberta, Ontario (where McGuinty has already committed to do so), Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan.

But this announcement does not shut down coal plants. It does not assist shutting down coal plants. It promises new regulations to take effect in five years to control emissions from NEW coal fired power plants.

One reporter asked in our press conference today if the focus on coal was an attempt to deflect attention from the tar sands. Well, yes it is. And that would be fine and welcome news if it actually did contribute to phasing out coal, which, no, it doesn’t.

As the over-hyped security and bloated costs of the summit still get the bulk of media interest, the most pressing issue of our time is getting some last minute attention from the Harper government. Sadly, that attention is focussed on spin and PR and not substance. Something like the fake lake. It is all about image; little about substance.