Cameron Wigmore: Green Party Member

October 6, 2006

Green Party reacts to Minister Ambrose - No Plan After All

You may have noticed that yesterday, despite months of build-up and promises of a plan, the environment minister Rona Ambrose announced that there is no 'Green Plan Two'. Instead of a plan the Conservatives will be making a series of environmental announcements. Instead of action now, they will be going back to consult groups on how to move forward - the same groups that were already consulted and decided to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. What Ambrose has been offering lacks detail, and opposition parties and environmentalists are accusing the government of wanting to stall environmental initiatives by pretending to start from scratch.

Just moments after this development, Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, who was at the house of commons when all of this was taking place, was pulled outside for an intense media scrum and widely interviewed.

One great four minute video clip is here (you'll need real media player to watch):
http://www.cbc.ca/clips/rm-lo/may-invu061005.rm

The CBC story that has a link to this video is here:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/10/05/ambrose-questions.html

The Green Party is on the ground in Ottawa and across Canada, and the media as well as the Canadian public is taking notice of the party and it's views on many issues. This development is an example of how the Green Party is an effective and important part of the mix in Canadian politics. Also, this development also shows a lack of accountability on the part of the Conservative government. Wasn't that one of their top five priorities? After abandoning the Kyoto Protocol (which the Liberals did a poor job of dealing with as well) the Conservatives promised us that a 'made in Canada solution' was on the way. Months later they tell us there is no plan. The Conservatives came to power on the promise to make government more accountable. I agree with the author of the story linked to below, that they need to be reminded that our government should be accountable to the people of Canada - not just its business elite.

There have been other developments showing a move away from real accountability including attending and participating in a recent highly secret deep integration summit in Banff. See Maude Barlow's piece on this from the Toronto Star through the link below.

http://tinyurl.com/s9945 (Toronto Star)

So two stories for you today; Green Party responds to the lack of a read plan on the environment from the Conservatives, and secret meeting raises more questions about government accountability and transparency.

Cheers,

Cameron Wigmore

Alberta Representative, Federal Council

CEO, Crowfoot EDA

Green Party of Canada

Drumheller, AB

403-770-2962

alberta(at)greenparty.ca

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More from the Green Party and national news stories below. Enjoy!

Elizabeth May participates in televised discussion on global warming (note: large video file)

http://www.cbc.ca/bigpicture/media/planet_debate.wmv

Green Party media release: Canada can meet Kyoto targets
http://tinyurl.com/pdo5s

The GPC's 'Green Plan Squared' (PDF file) This is an important document for understanding the Green Party's strategy on energy, the economy & ecology...

http://www.greenparty.ca/downloads/GP2-Report-Eng.pdf

May's Blog: Rona Ambrose definitely does NOT clear the air....

http://www.greenparty.ca/page269.html

Ambrose denies retreating from international co-operation on environment (Sept 14th, Canadian Press)

http://tinyurl.com/z9pbw

Ambrose balks at using existing powers to smack down polluters (canada.com)

http://tinyurl.com/frkbm

Grim Report Serves as wakeup call for Canada (CTV.ca)

http://tinyurl.com/j7wv6

An Inconvenient Truth (on DVD November 21st) An important documentary on the science of climate change!

http://www.climatecrisis.net/

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8 comments:

camsax@gmail.com said...: This just in...

Green Party Media Release

CDM expert contradicts Minister Ambrose

Ottawa - Yesterday before the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, Minister Ambrose twice cited a report from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, specifically referencing Daphne Wysham as a source of the following quote "the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) creates an incentive for corruption." (check against Hansard).

The Green Party Leader, Elizabeth May, contacted Daphne Wysham directly to confirm this statement. The CDM expert, Daphne Wysham, made the following statement in response, "I am horrified that my statement criticizing the CDM has been interpreted by Canada's Environment Minister as justification for not living up to the terms of the Kyoto Protocol. We absolutely need a vehicle for both curbing emissions in the North and providing resources for clean energy in the south. The CDM may be flawed, but throwing the baby out with the bathwater will set us back decades at a time when action to reduce greenhouse gases is urgently needed. Canada must not violate its legally binding Kyoto commitments."

Today in question period, Liberal MP John Godfrey raised this point and requested that Minister Ambrose apologize for misrepresenting Daphne Wysham's expert opinion on the CDM.; 4:11 p.m.
The Anonymous Green said...: Which generated this article carried in the National Post, and others, so the Press Release did work:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=41630722-681e-4f9c-b03a-4b69e9973dbd&k=62893

p.s. No reply to the debate at my site?; 10:24 a.m.
camsax@gmail.com said...: Thanks for the link to the article!

Quote from the story:
[quote]"There is a lot of evidence now about the lack of accountability around these kinds of products," Ambrose told the committee. "I'll tell you what a clean development expert said at the Institute for Policy Studies, (She) said `you're creating all kinds of incentives for corruption."'

Wysham admitted she criticized the mechanism, but explained that she was urging countries to develop alternatives to make more effective progress in the fight to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change.

"You don't throw the baby out with the bath water," she said. "We do find some flaws in the CDM, but that said, I think there is the potential to at least begin to fix some of the problems."

Ambrose has insisted Canada remains committed to Kyoto, however the Conservatives voted against a private member's bill that would require the government to implement a plan to honour Canada's obligations under the international agreement.

"In the meantime, Canada should absolutely be shooting for their emission targets reduction at home," Wysham said. "It's no excuse if you're saying we can't trust the system abroad. Let's see you put your money where your mouth is at home."

Ambrose's office did not return phone calls seeking comment. [end quote]

I did post a comment at your blog, but I am no expert on NAFTA, so you'll have to bear with me as I continue to study the subject.; 11:20 a.m.
The Anonymous Green said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 11:28 a.m.
The Anonymous Green said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 8:09 p.m.
The Anonymous Green said...: Sorry about the deletions above. Still learning on blogger.

What I had previously said was I look forward to your comments, and invite anyone else to join the discussion, on this or any other issue (for some reson I can't get added to the green blogger list).

I have also added some fun posts including one that includes a PeeWee Herman video link - and oilsands etc.

Check it out - and add to your favourite lists. Click here:

The Anonymous Green

Thx

(hopefully the link shows up - took a new blogger a while to figure out how); 10:10 p.m.
The Anonymous Green said...: I've just posted a few video links on my site - Politics- press gallery discussions on the environment. I'll update weekly if there's interest.

The Anonymous Green; 3:15 p.m.
camsax@gmail.com said...: A good unbiased examination...

Serious action, or just serious delay?
Edmonton Journal
http://tinyurl.com/yc5jn4

Quote:
In the last election, Stephen Harper called for a made-in-Canada green plan to tackle both global warming and smog in Canadian cities. His well-received promises raised expectations that, finally, progress would be made after years of Liberal ineptitude.

What his government delivered last week, unfortunately, falls far short of the mark. The targets for reductions of both smog and greenhouse gases are years away and the country is in for a lengthy round of consultations with industries before it sees specific steps.; 11:04 p.m.