It's mind-boggling. Around the world a strong majority of people are yelling 'do something, now' and yet the Trudeau Liberals would rather build pipelines.
Eight countries, our own included, were surveyed to assess the public attitude on climate change. Let's put it this way, bitumen did not win.
A majority of the public recognise the climate crisis as an “emergency” and say politicians are failing to tackle the problem, backing the interests of big oil over the wellbeing of ordinary people, according to an eight-country poll.
The survey, which comes before what is expected to be the world’s biggest climate demonstrations on Friday, found that climate breakdown is viewed as the most important issue facing the world, ahead of migration, terrorism and the global economy, in seven out of the eight countries surveyed. In the US it comes third behind terrorism and affordable healthcare.
Nick Lowles, from UK-based anti-racism group Hope not Hate, which commissioned the survey, said the findings showed that the public were “way ahead” of politicians in recognising the scale of the climate crisis. “They understand the scale of the problem and want governments to take the strong and decisive action that this emergency requires.”In case you're wondering, 'strong and decisive action' is not code for a paltry $30 per tonne carbon tax. It doesn't mean building pipelines to 'tidewater.' And it sure as hell doesn't mean adding another million barrels a day of bitumen into the holds of supertankers.
For decades I was proud to be a Liberal. I no longer understand how the Liberal faithful can still stomach what their party has become. What's the best thing the Liberals have going for them? The Conservatives are worse. 'Vote for us because we're not as bad as them. We are the lesser of two evils.'
We're on the cusp of climate breakdown and the priority for Conservative and Liberal alike is to run roughshod over their opponents to drive through that gawdamned pipeline.
And now, with week one of the election campaign under their belts, the Liberals have got a morally compromised leader blurting apologies he himself wouldn't accept from anyone else.
How badly is he gored from his self-inflicted wound? Will this tip the scales in favour of Andrew Scheer? If so then Canada and all of us will be paying dearly for Trudeau's unconscionable decision to renege on his promise of electoral reform.
A deeply flawed young man with a famous name he could never live up to.
5 comments:
And now a new controversy sinks our airhead PM as he turns ...
a whiter shade of pale
A lot of us had very high hopes and expectations of that man. He dashed every one of them.
My opinion of JT hasn't changed since he reneged on electoral reform. He's not capable of doing the job. The Liberal establishment probably knew that up front but launched him anyway because of his name.
The Liberals lost their way (and lost me) post-Martin. Dion had many fine qualities but was never leadership-grade. He was, however, a professor. Following the "green shift" debacle, so badly botched by Dion himself, they annointed Ignatieff, a Harvard-grade leadership professor and another dud. When Iggy blew it they flocked to the young man with the most famous Liberal name, Trudeau. By then the LPC was something of a personality cult.
I got off that wagon at the intersection of Dion & Ignatieff. I didn't leave the Liberals. They left me when they virtually expunged their progressive wing.Just as Harper sought to transform the Tories into Latter-Day Republicans, the Liberals under Iggy almost seemed to transform into Democrats.
Harper's prime objective was to shift Canada's political center well and widely to the right. He broke the Liberals and New Dems in the process as they dutifully shifted right. The Libs became Conservative-Lite. The New Dems shifted to Latter Day Liberals in their ambitious quest for power rather than social justice.
It's all been a grand shit show since Harper came to power and during Trudeau's tenure also. That whole groping business in Creston, BC, foretold what we had to expect. Trudeau denied anything had happened until someone produced his written apology. Then came Lavalin. Now this, all atop a graveyard of election promises.
Oddly enough, I think our last progressive prime minister was Paul Martin. The Kelowna Accord was his handiwork. Captain Canada Steamship also helped forge R2P, the 'responsibility to protect' doctrine under which major and minor powers' militaries would be harnessed to protect weak states beset. The mere knowledge that this would be coming, and soon, would discourage catastrophes such as Rwanda. Brilliant stuff, really. Imagine a world ordered by R2P today.
And they wonder why we have a disaffected public who spurn the power of the ballot box. They know it's rigged. Getting the support of less than two out of five votes, 35 to 39 percent, is enough to cement a powerful majority government not endorsed by three out of five voters. There is no 'consent' much less 'informed consent' which is the sine qua non of democracy itself. How do you claim a majority mandate when you fell short of a majority of the votes?
I have watched the Liberals basically become a kinder, gentler neoliberal party. The pipeline was the last straw for me. As I learned about the grand bargain Trudeau thought he was making, and the logic behind it, it was pretty clear that climate change was seen not as an existential threat as much as a political problem to be triangulated away.
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