Sorry, Mr. Mulcair, But That's a Fail

NDP leader, Tom Mulcair, may have some real qualities but he's no Jack Layton.

Mulcair returned from summer holidays unprepared for the scorch job Harpo and his minions had prepared for him.   The big loser, however, wasn't Mulcair but the Canadian people.

The Harpies lambasted Mulcair for supposedly advocating carbon taxes, something the NDP leader denounced as a "lie."  The NDP, it seems, favours something of a cap and trade scheme, an idea that has a tarnished image globally.

What we ought to have been able to expect from a pol who claims to be ready to lead the country, is someone who could respond calmly, clearly and persuasively with a viable proposal to price carbon.   It's impossible to lead when you're so easily thrown onto the defensive.

Harper was right several years ago when he disingenuously proclaimed climate change the greatest threat to mankind.   Harper is vulnerable on that admission.   What has he done to keep the Canadian people informed and up to date on this "greatest threat"?   Nothing.   What has his government done to evaluate and implement adaptation strategies?   Virtually nothing.   What has his government achieved in reducing our national carbon footprint?  Ditto.

We know we're being overtaken by global warming.   With the latest forecast predicting an ice-free Arctic within just four years, the pace of the onset of climate change is far faster than we imagined even a year or two back.   Yet we're saddled with a prime minister who drools at the prospect of ramping up bitumen production and extracting oil and gas from the Arctic seabed.  Harper is a political fossil fueler on steroids.   But does Mulcair hang that around Harper's neck?   No, he's much too busy tied up on the defensive.  And that's a fail.