Canada's New Environment Minister

The Conservatives have handled the environment disasterously, and even they would concede that point, though they'd likely use a different adjective. The prime minister recently stated "We've clearly determined that we need to do more on the environment," and added "We recognize that, particularly when it comes to clean air and climate change, that Canadians expect a lot more."

Let's look at the doomed Clean Air Act, an act that all three opposition parties rightly opposed. Among other things, it set to...

-By 2011, develop new regulations for vehicle fuel consumption.
-By 2025, set national targets for smog and ozone levels.
-By 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 45 and 65 per cent from 2003 levels.
-And made no mention of the Kyoto Protocol and the emissions targets the government of Canada committed to in 2002.

Talk about fast action on policy initiatives.

Rather than creating a new environmental policy, the Conservatives have made Ontario MP and long-time bully John Baird the new minister. Does Canada need a new policy, or a new minister? The answer seems obvious, but apparantly isn't.

Let's look at John Baird. Who is he?

Well, back in his days as one of Mike Harris' goons, he responded to the mother of a severely disabled five-year-old child who was ejected from the legislature in late 1995 for protesting the Harris government's cutbacks, by shouting "She's an OPSEU member" before being told to shut up by a colleague. He later apologized for the outburst. A year later during a televised debate, he acknowledged that his government's privatization policies would likely result in lower wages for workers, but argued this would be balanced out by lower prices for consumers. Is this guy for real? Apparently yes.

He refused to cancel a government contracted with a private-sector Bermuda firm to provide upgrades to the provinces welfare management system. The contract contained nothing to prevent the firm from increasing their rates, which of course they did, increasing their rate to $257/hr. That same work was once done by ministry staff for $51/hr. Nothing quite like Conservative economics. They'll always look out for the tax-payer....

A strong proponent of the provinces workfare system, he annouced that anyone convicted of welfare fraud would run the risk of being given a lifetime ban from the program and also supported mandatory drug-testing for welfare recipients, arguing that those who refused such tests should be at risk of have their funding cut off. He was later criticized by the Ontario Human Rights Commissioner. This guy is an absolute nut bar. But it gets better. He then announced that provincial welfare applicants would be required to pass a literacy test.

As federal treasury board president, he found $1 billion in cuts for 2006 and 2007. On the same day his government announced a $13.2 billion surplus, he made cuts to sixty-six federal programs, including the Status of Women, medicinal marijuana research, Canadian museums, adult literacy, youth employment and social development, and the British Columbia pine beetle program. He also made cuts was to the federal Court Challenges Program, arguingthat it "just [didn't make] sense for the government to subsidize lawyers to challenge the government's own laws in court." Of course, the government has never been wrong on legal matters, and we really ought to be deferntial to government laws and not challenge their authority if we percieve them to be unjust.

What does all of this have to do with the environment? Nothing. What does John Baird know about the environment? Nothing. But don't worry, everything will get better with "Mr. Fix It" as the new minister.