The Harper Government Record
At home and abroad, it is time our national government became part of the climate change solution rather than part of the problem. Here are some specific examples of how the current government has let us down:
- Indicating to the world that Canada would not attempt to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol (Nov 2006);
- Killing the Clean Air and Climate Change Act, despite its complete support from the opposition parties, leaving Canada without emission reduction policies after a full year in office (fall 2007);
- Undermining attempts at agreement on binding emission reduction targets at the Commonwealth Summit in Uganda and the UN Climate Conference in Indonesia (Nov-Dec 2007);
- Announcing a climate change plan with "aspirational" emission reduction targets -- which will allow Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions to continue to rise (Mar 2008).
- Refusing to publicize important Health Canada reports on the imacts of climate change -- reports produced by our own government, with our tax dollars. The authors have criticised the government's year long delay of the report's release, and the cancellation of a planned national tour to promote its findings. Read the report: Français English.
Don't just take our word for it: the Sierra Club of Canada recently gave the Conservative government an F+ in its Climate Change Report Card.
For another perspective, read the new book by U Victoria Climatologist and IPPC author Anderw Weaver:Keeping Our Cool, Canada in a Warming World. The book contains a fiery critique of the Harper government's performance on the climate file - from its dismantaling of research programs and emission reduction initiatives, to the way in which it silences our own government researchers and scientists. A timely book.
