awakeCanada has so far earned four Fossil of the Day awards, a daily tongue-in-cheek "prize" handed out at these conferences to the country that does the most to block progress on fighting climate change. The award is presented by an international coalition of environmental groups called the Climate Action Network.
Canada has been criticized for trying to propose new targets that would not even meet its own commitments under the Kyoto Protocol; for saying it should get a break because much of its emissions come from the tar sands projects; and for suggesting that Canada should be allowed weaker emissions reduction targets because Canadians will have to adjust their lifestyles in order to reduce emissions by, for example, using smaller cars or public transit.
"The Harper chill factor" - Michelle LaLonde, Montreal Gazette
Oh, cry me a river.
And I read that after reading more evidence that Harper's acolytes don't speak for the majority of Canadians. I'm a little bit cheesed, and I think more of us ought to be.
Meanwhile, Ignatieff is getting a little more (publicly) bullish on the Coalition. But he also made it clear to his caucus that "no party can have the confidence of the country if it decides to vote against a budget it hasn't even read." Tell it! That's just the sort of pragmatic perspective we crave in all this chaos.
While I don't have any polls to back me up, I believe that a healthy majority of Canadians are willing to make small - or even major - lifestyle changes in the face of an unfolding global disaster. What's wrong with using smaller cars or taking public transit? Who the hell funded this party and asked them to purvey this crap on behalf of "Canadians" in international negotiations? Gah.
Opinions / feedback welcome, as always.