Thank you for copying my office on your email highlighting several area of importance for Canada to take a leadership role at the upcoming United Nations Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa.
First, New Democrats were surprised and dismayed to learn from the Environment Minister that opposition MPs were not included in the Canadian delegation to COP17 later this month. For decades, Canadian delegations to international conferences have been understood to represent Canada - not merely the governing party. We strongly oppose this attempt to block opposition voices.
Canada is one of the world's top ten greenhouse gas emitters and we know this is due largely to the Harper government's promotion of oil sands development. Already, going into this conference the Environment Minister has declared that Canada won't be swayed by "opponents" into changing policies.
In contrast, New Democrats strongly believe that good environmental policy and economic well-being are not in conflict - rather they depend on each other. Canada should invest in solar, wind, wave, and geothermal sources; work with provinces and territories to share clean energy; and ensure energy conservation in transportation and building methods. Not only will this have a long-term impact in terms of creating high-quality, permanent jobs, but it will also ensure that we build a clean and sustainable country for the benefit of future generations.
You may also be familiar with the NDP Climate Change Accountability Act, which legislates long-term targets to reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions - ensuring that Canada meets many of its international obligations. The bill twice passed in the House of Commons, and both times the legislative process was stopped by unelected senators. We continue to promote this legislation which was recently re-introduced by NDP Environment critic Megan Leslie.
You can read more about our party's ideas here:
http://www.ndp.ca/platform/tackle-climate-change
http://meganleslie.ndp.ca/post/ndp-calls-for-action-against-climate-change
Again, thank you for writing. Rest assured that our team will continue to speak out on this matter. The government must take action for future generations -- it's time for leadership that will move Canada forward.
Best regards,
Nycole Turmel, M.P.
Interim Leader of the Official Opposition New Democratic Party of Canada
Hello Nycole,
I know you and your party are working on in the spirit of Jack Layton, and I appreciate that. From your perspective I imagine that is a strength the party draws on and will continue to draw on. He was an incredibly principled man for mainstream politics.
For me, the problems we face have crossed a line somewhere and I can't tell you where it was. Tinkering will no longer work. I believe the ideas you have set out in your email are very important, but they do not address the larger systemic issues embedded in systems domestic that are inseparable from foreign policy: NAFTA has to go; WTO agreements need to be torn up in the face of the multi-nationals that benefit at the expense of communities, biodiversity and local solutions across the globe; the World Bank is morally bankrupt; the IMF remains the henchman of the WB. All of this is behind US imperialism and its claim to manifest destiny.
My wife and I recently returned from a one year trip to South-and South-East Asia; brutalized by, primarily, the British, French and more recently the Americans, one would have to be blind to not see the destruction that has been left behind, not least of which are the many millions of innocents murdered in the name of "defense" or "strategic interests". The corruption of both has been internalized so that the political elite have merely assumed the mantle of their erstwhile imperial masters.
Canada needs to uncouple itself from its incestuous partnerships with private industry: health-care; education; public transport; power generation (including new initiatives); water supply; the fossil-fuel industry--all these and more should be nationalized--brought back firmly and irrevocably into the public domain.
Please, Nycole, this is a time for visionary thinking and action. The NDP along with the other political parties has to step way outside the box and slam the lid shut if it is to have any relevance ten or twenty years from now, or forego a legacy of moral rectitude in the diseased eyes of my grandchildren.
Terence Stone
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