A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau hasn’t even been sworn in as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister yet, and you have parades of political pundits, citizen activists and others chattering about some of the first things he should do when he is.
Now retired Environment Canada scientist Tony Turner singing ‘Harperman’ about a prime minister who didn’t care for the tune.
So why shouldn’t I join in with just one very simple thing he could do that would make good on his mantra for hope and change.
I’ll stay away from one that has already been repeated thousands of times since this past October 19th when Trudeau and his Liberals swept to victory – that he should put together a carbon emissions reduction plan that convinces the world at the coming Paris Climate Change Summit that after more than nine years of being stuck in the tar sands, Canada is seriously back in business of protecting the environment.
I wholeheartedly agree that climate change should be among Trudeau’s top priorities but tackling that one won’t be as simple as the one I’m about to suggest, which he could accomplish within a matter of hours of taking office.
It is also one that would send out a signal loud and clear to Canadians that he means every word he’s said about leading a government that is more open and accountable. And all it involves is standing at a podium next to Tony Turner, who retired from Environment Canada scientists earlier this October after the Harper government suspended him pending an investigation, and inviting him to return to his job and, at the same time, announcing that his government is removing the muzzles Harper and company placed on all federal scientists when it comes to discussing the research they do on behalf of Canadians and with our money.
Turner, as at least some of you may remember, found himself in political hot water after he videotaped himself this past June with what looked like a large chorus of friends and neighbours singing a song he wrote called ‘Harperman’, then seeing the video, which begins with him singing; ‘Who controls are parliament? Who squashes all dissent?’ to the chorus of ‘Harperman, Harperman’, go viral on Youtube.
‘Harperman’ struck an immediate chord with thousands of his fellow researchers in and outside of government who saw the muzzling of scientists as part of Harper’s broader ‘war on science’. It also caught fire with Canadians from coast to coast who were already long tired of Harper saying one thing about the state of the environment and the research, whenever it got leaked out, saying quite another.
So there is one for you Justin. As an environment reporter for the better part of the past 36 years, I well remember in what high regard our federal scientists were held as reliable sources of leading edge data for journalists and for members of the public across Canada and across the border in the United States.
You can remove the muzzles from these dedicated researchers and restore Canada’s reputation as a reservoir of world-class information all of us wanting to work with governments to protect and preserve the life sustaining resources of our planet for present and future generations have access to.
If any of you agree that this is something our Prime Minister-elect could quickly and easily do, and have access to someone who might be able to get the word through, I welcome you to pass this post on to them.
View Tony Turner singing ‘Harperman’ by clicking on – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei50lM6ab1c .
Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.
(NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.)
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Justin Trudeau deserves a breather. Then, we all can press our priorities,,,
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Yes, exactly. Should we perhaps now be sending a formal petition to Mr Trudeau?
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Glad you agree that what to do about our changing climate won’t be easy, Doug.
(As discussed with you elsewhere, can anything be done to prevent climate from changing? Can it be done without shutting down Canadian jobs which mainly depend on … mining? If carbon taxes raise the price of fuel & everything that is transported, how will that help us compete & live?)
However,
– Protecting the environment (in a mining country!) is quite different from deciding What to do to be Prepared for our changing climate; strengthening infrastructure is one of Justin’s better ideas, assuming they plan to build better storm sewers.
– The paper today had an article which said that Harper had only promised to cut carbon 30% by 2030; somewhere else, it noted that the USA (& China?) had promised the same 30% cut (what, Canada isn’t the worst after all?!). Wonder what Justin’s new government will do to show that it’s better than Harper’s?
As far as freeing scientists & their research, I could never understand why ‘the Harper government’ made those cuts. It removed any explanation for their decisions, making them much easier to justifiably attack. Why would any government want to make itself easier to be attacked?
A Response from Doug Draper – I didn’t foresee going off on another tangent about how bad Harper supporters believe fighting climate change is going to be for Canadian jobs Mr. White, but since we are here let me say just a few things in reponse.
First, where did I ever say that tackling climate change was going to be simply or easy. I don’t know of anyone who is knowledgeable on the subject who has ever said that.
On the other concerns you raise about jobs in the mining industry and what is going to happen to jobs in general, I’ll begin by repeating something I said once before. If this was a century ago when Ford was coming in with the mass production of cars and Edison was coming in with the lightbulb, there would be the status quo people out there who would be saying wait a minute to that – what is going to happen to all the stable owners, carriage and buggy whip manufactures and all of the candle stick makers?
Take a look no further than the other side of the Canada/U.S. border where a company called Solar City is in the process of building one of the largest solar panel plants in the western world, generating thousands of new jobs in the Buffalo area, some of which will be filled by former steel workers and others who lost their jobs thanks to unfair trade agreements with countries like China.
And Solar City is just one example of new industries growing in other parts of the world to answer a growing demand for alternative energy technology ……. But never mind that, right. …. In Canada, lets just go on mining tar and coal.
As for Canada’s carbon reduction targets versus those being negotiated by the U.S., China and other countries ….. your information is dated. the u.s. and china is in the process of negotiating much stronger targets because they know that in this 21st century, the curtains are closing on 19th century sources of energy. A former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and Elizabeth May both said in recent interviews that under Harper, Canada has not only failed to meet past carbon reduction targets, but the target you cite of 30 percent by the year 2030 is making Canada the weakest of all the G7 countries in setting goals.
You asked me in a previous comment to spell out how we shift to a greener energy world and that would take a book, Mr. White and there are many of good books out there already and there are magazines like Natonal Geographic, Harper, Atlantic and others that have published fabulous articles on this area. There is a book out now called ‘The Carbon Bubble’ that is not written by some of the people conservatives disparage like David Suzuki or Naomi Klein, but by Jeff Rubin, a former chief economics for one of Canada’s big banks.
There is also a great book that is a few years old now called Merchants of Doubt that shows how the coal and petro industries have hired scientists and communication managers that once worked for the tobacco industry to delay any regulation or attempt to discourage smoking by feeding doubts that cigarette smoking contributed to cancer and the deaths of tens of thousands of North Americans each year and to fuel fear about job losses in the tobacco growing industry. Now these people are here using the same tactics to delay, for as long as possible, action on climate change.
Mr. White, you seem to worry about what is going to happen to the status quo and that is where we appear to part. I remain inspired by John F. Kennedy’s optimism around putting a human on the moon within a decade, “not because it is easy, but because it is hard.”
I look at a greener future and am optimistic enough to believe that all of the new jobs you see coming on the books in Buffalo now through green energy manufacturing is a harbinger of that future …… I have an old coal oil lamp hanging in a shed in the backyard but it is an antique now ….. regards, Doug Draper
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Doug, my comment was Not to criticize you but to congratulate you for recognizing that stopping the burning of fossil fuels will be hard. We Are addicted to them.
Personally, I have installed 3 types of solar/wind energy to reduce my carbon footprint – I see Very few others doing the same. To be fair, most of my electricity reduces my Nuclear footprint (Nuclear makes 45-70% of Ontario’s electricity depending upon time of day), although some of my Renewable electricity reduces my natural gas heating bill. I did this with No 30% government subsidy that George W Bush gave USA citizens to install Renewable Energy on their homes & businesses – Canada & Ontario have no grants.
However, higher Ontario electricity prices (to refurbish failed Nuclear plants) are already driving companies (and jobs) overseas, while raising our cost of living. Where will we work if the COP21 Paris treaty forces us to export jobs &/or taxes to Brasil, Russia, India & China [BRIC] if we won’t stop mining & burning fossil fuels?
And do you know of anyone who has stopped driving or flying? I haven’t, have you? Can we? Methinks everyone is waiting for The Government to magically wave a wand & solve this, but it won’t work until we ignore them and do it ourselves.
PS. 1. I look forward to viewing Merchants of Doubt.
2. Jeff Rubin has written 4 books since 2009. The predictions in his first 3 books (about the economics of Peak Oil) have failed. I look forward to reading his newest ideas.
3. Similar failed predictions have come from the ~50 UN IPCC climate models. In fact, the latest scientific studies show that despite atmospheric CO2 approaching 400ppm, we have an 18+ year hiatus in temperature increase. As more climate scientists study this, there are competing theories that urban heat islands (concrete jungles), clouds, cosmic rays, solar, planetary & galactic cycles have more impact than CO2, and one even suggests that we may be cooling to a low in 2150. (I’m sure you are researching these papers as well.)
4. Whether the climate heats or cools, I sure hope Justin prioritizes building bigger, stronger storm sewers.
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Spot on Doug! His song was great and the rhythm good. He can sing at the coffee breaks to all the scientists Trudeau hires back!!
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