Just Big Hair and Lipstick?

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose has done her best over the past eight months to keep a low profile. Oh, she's mumbled a lot of vague assurances that she's doing something about the environment, alluded to a basket of initiatives she's got in the works and muttered about lengthy consultations to come over the next year. Nora's even been heard to acknowledge the link between greenhouse gases and global warming. What she hasn't shown us is whether any of this really matters to her or to her boss, Little Stevie.

We know that Stevie doesn't like Kyoto, that he badmouths it a lot and never passes up an opportunity to misrepresent what it's all about. We know that Stevie and his environmental underling, that little hottie, like the notion of deflecting the global warming issue by diverting attention to their smog initiative. We know they also hype the ideas of voluntary compliance and 'intensity-based' regulation.

Still, it's anything but easy to put a finger on just exactly what Ms. Ambrose has been doing since she was appointed. I suppose like all new ministers Mona's spent the necessary time getting briefed by all the experts and top dogs in her ministry. I mean, they all do that, right? Maybe not.

According to a story in today's Hill Times, Ms. Ambrose hasn't bothered to get a briefing from her department on the science of climate change. HT spoke with an unnamed official of her department who said Ronnie hadn't been briefed by here ministry's scientists who specialize in this area, adding, "It's shocking, isn't it?"

Schocking? Not really. It's only shocking if you didn't notice the 800-pound gorilla in the room, the great Athabaska Tar Sands. Rampaging tar sands development and greenhouse gas concerns don't really fit too well. I mean, how can you make any serious effort to curb emissions of greenhouse gases and ignore the tar sands problem? Wait - okay, I get it. Now I understand why she has ducked those briefings.