Jack takes lead once again on the environment!
What a wonderful sight to wake up and see. As this CBC article reports, Stephen Harper is apparently willing to meet with Jack, in order to address climate change. I thought I was dreaming! So I quickly went to another news source to make sure the CBC wasn't running a fake article. CTV.ca reported the same!
Jack, je suis fier mon amie!
This is exactly the reason why I dedicate the better part of my free time to the party.
This however is all following a report in which an economist predicted economic collapse if we didn't address climate change. I suspect that is really the only reason why the corporate-class Conservatives are moving in this direction: the economy. I say this because I'm sure that neither corporate-class Conservatives, or business-management-class Liberals would ever make a decision (and stick to it) if it were simply a socially productive cause.
Update: In recent developments, Jack has tabled a private members bill which would call for reductions in green house gases similar to that of the Kyoto protocol. Jack now it seems is in negotiation to bail out the Conservatives from a non-confidence motion. I think this is significant to many Canadians, because the Conservatives are quite low in the polls, and wouldn't want to risk an election. Looks like exactly what happened in 2004. Way to go Jack!
Not sure if you have seen
Not sure if you have seen yet ... but the meeting with Harper was essentially a bust and I think that was bound to happen.
A Conservative government will not be willing to make the necessary commitments to move towards real and necessary climate change.
What we saw today was political jockeying by both Harper and Layton. In the forth coming election Harper can say that he tried to talk to all parties to make things work even the dreaded NDP! While Jack can say that, once again, the NDP was the only party that tried to make government work.
Bottom line is that Layton should not make this a confidence motion (yet) because the Libs won't back it simply because they're not ready for an election. But once the Libs have a leader I fully expect the government to fall within a month.
Thanks Owen, One question
Thanks Owen,
One question I've asked on Rabble Babble was whether Jack would have done all this if there was no political advantage. I think he would have.
Ultimately I see the NDP taking action on an opportunity to turn bad legislation into good. I see the Greens being cynical, and I see the Liberals pouting about being left out.
I see the Conservatives trying to avoid any collapse of their government, which means I think it was important for Jack to put that out there to show that he was serious, and that Harper should take this seriously. Though I think it would be irresponsible to actually collapse the government right now, I doubt Harper would have taken it all seriously if there was no challenge to his power.
Anyways, it's in committee, and there is hope that this will become something worthy of the NDP.
I think Jack is, regardless
I think Jack is, regardless of the party in power, going to be looking for progressive legislation - including in the environmental context.
It's important for those on the left not to be naive though. The way Jack had to approach this situation was in a political context. Maybe I'm a little too radical...but I think it would be impossible for the NDP to come to an agreement about what a satisfactory environment bill would look like with the Conservatives.
I view this committee as a stalling tactic that works well for most of the parties involved. Look at the alternative -> the NDP tables their ideal environmental legislation as a confidence matter. The Liberals, almost out of necessity because they have no leader, have to vote the NDP bill down. And then we're left with the Clean Air Act as it stands.
Now essentially have three environmental bills: the Clean Air Act, the NDP bill, and the Private Member's Bill. Hopefully the committee can work towards meshing them together into one piece of legislation a Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition can pass after the election.
I couldn't help but come
I couldn't help but come back to this one, albeit a couple weeks later and reflect on the changes that have been made to the "clean air act". The Liberals contributed their amount to global warming by blasting the NDP with hot air about the three words "as per Kyoto" not appearing in the proposals.
Now after spending time in committee, the NDP amendments have corked the Liberals hypocritical mouth shut, with what I would perceive to be a quite solid commitment to the Kyoto protocol.
I think the private members bill and the NDP proposed legislation have essentially been upstaged by the multi-partisan amendments to the "clean air act". Put one down for Jack!