Harper flip-flops again

This time in a sensible direction although it remains to be seen if he's serious. I doubt it, given how often he has changed his position in the recent past.

The Conservative government said yesterday [Feb 15, 2007] it would produce a plan to comply with Kyoto if forced to, a dramatic shift from the previous day when it dismissed legislation passed by opposition MPs that would require Canada to meet the protocol's targets for reducing greenhouse gases.

The legislation, introduced by a Liberal MP, calls on the government to present a plan to Parliament within 60 days outlining how Canada will meet its Kyoto targets. It must still be approved by the Liberal-dominated Senate.

"If and when that becomes law, the government would respect it," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons. "I would point out that the bill has no plan of action in it. The bill gives the government no authority to spend any money to actually have a plan of action." ...

The Prime Minister's change in tone drew cautious praise from NDP Leader Jack Layton. ...

"We'll have to see in the budget. We'll have to see in the actions that he takes whether he's serious," he said. ...

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said Quebec is now on track to meet Kyoto and the costs for the rest of the country should be borne by industry. ...

"I think the oil companies, as an example, have enough money to pay for what they are responsible for," he said.

"I think the question is more importantly how much it will cost if we don't face Kyoto. That would be the question." ...

See this page for the whole article and the strategies of the major parties to address climate change.



Chantal Hébert thinks there's more than meets the eye at first glance:

... Other parties have Dion exactly where they want him, stripped of his environmental edge in the lead-up to a possible election.

Nothing now distinguishes the Liberal bottom line on climate change from that of the NDP, the Bloc Québécois and the Green party.

Dion is as saddled to the moribund Kyoto battlehorse as Gilles Duceppe, Jack Layton and Elizabeth May. More so than any of them though, he could be crushed under its weight in the next election. ...

Bill C-288 ensures that the lacklustre Liberal performance on Kyoto will be as much a part of the picture of the next campaign as the Conservatives' belated conversion to a greener agenda. ...

By backing Kyoto to the hilt, Dion may have tilted the balance of credibility to Harper's advantage. The Conservatives could be one environmental package away from wrestling the upper hand from the Liberals. Such a package is expected to come at the end of March. ...