Stephen Harper’s attempts to control his anti-environment agenda by stacking the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) with his Conservative friends has blown up in his face with the release of their most recent report, Liberal MP David McGuinty said today.
“Even Mr. Harper’s Tory buddies can’t deny his inaction on helping Canada transition to a green economy,” said Mr. McGuinty, who is the Liberal Environment Critic. “Why does this government continue to defend their inaction on climate change and ignore the opportunity to create the high-value jobs associated with a low-carbon economy? The Conservative government simply doesn’t seem to understand that our future global competitiveness depends on it.”
Yesterday, NRTEE reported that Canada ranks near the bottom of G8 nations when it comes to climate change and the economy. Using its new low-carbon performance index, NRTEE placed Canada sixth out of eight countries. The index measures a country’s level of clean-technology investment, low-carbon financial stimulus and national carbon-pricing measures.
Environment Minister Jim Prentice dismissed the results of the report – even though it was produced by his fellow Conservatives. At the same time, he announced today that new heavy duty truck emission standards won’t even see the light of day until 2011. This latest attempt to distract from their abysmal environmental record comes after four years of empty promises.
Unlike other G8 nations who are investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, the Conservatives have:
• Cancelled programs to help Canadians make energy retrofits to their homes;
• Cut incentive programs to help foster a low-impact renewable energy industry;
• Failed to take any measurable action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and
• Pushed discussion of climate change and the environment to the sidelines of next month’s G8 and G20 summits.
Recently, Mr. Harper defended his government’s environmental inaction, saying that measures to address climate change will hurt the economy with “real impacts on jobs and economic growth” and that “there are serious trade-offs with economic imperatives in the short term.”
“Mr. Harper is dead wrong. The next generation of jobs and economic growth in a carbon-constrained world will come from renewable energy sources and energy efficiency – which is why a future Liberal government will make the most significant national investment in clean energy and energy efficiency this country has ever seen,” Mr. McGuinty concluded.
Minister Prentice is rejecting the report from the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, despite his government’s efforts to ensure this board is firmly under their control. They have successfully purged the Board to ensure all 18 members were appointed by the Conservatives, including 10 with known Conservative ties:
• Former Mulroney and Flaherty Chief of Staff, David McLaughlin;
• Former “senior political assistant” to Mulroney, Richard Prokopanko;
• Former Conservative MP Bob Bills;
• Former Mulroney Cabinet Minister Pauline Browes;
• Former Ontario PC Cabinet Minister Dianne Cunningham;
• Former Nova Scotia PC Cabinet Minister Mark Parent;
• Former Staffer to Ontario Premier Mike Harris, Anthony Dale;
• Donor and 1997 PC Candidate John Hachey;
In October 2009, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announced that the Liberal Party is committed to:
• Making historic investments in clean energy in new and traditional sectors, including renewable energy production such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass;
• Setting an ambitious target of quadrupling Canada’s production of renewable energy from sources such as solar and wind by Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017;
• Creating a national carbon cap and trade system with hard targets;
• Promoting energy efficiency by investing in “smart” meters for our homes and “smart” electrical grids.
