News
An Open Letter to Joe Oliver
Blog | Monday, 09 Jan 2012“Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade. Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to...
The Biggest Story of 2011 for Me? Weather Gone Wild
Blog | Thursday, 29 Dec 2011It is proving more difficult than I had expected to pick one event worthy of the superlative "Biggest Story of 2011." The May election brought many changes to the face of Parliament. Each party was...
What I gave to every Member of Parliament
Blog | Friday, 23 Dec 2011I had not been planning to give every Member of Parliament a present for Christmas/Hanukkah/holiday break, but the story of what I gave and why is, in its own right, a way of sharing the best of this...
Unpublished Letter to the Editor: MP Attendance Records
Blog | Friday, 16 Dec 2011To the editor,Your story on the high absenteeism in Parliament of many MPs and leadership hopefuls contains one major omission. You forgot to mention that Green Party leader Elizabeth May has one of...
Kyoto withdrawal: There must be a political price to be paid
Blog | Tuesday, 13 Dec 2011I am just back from Durban and COP17. So is Peter Kent. Only he came back and announced that Canada will strike a blow at the fragile agreement that was just produced. As I am sure you have heard...
Last thoughts on the Durban package
Blog | Sunday, 11 Dec 2011Alright, probably not last thoughts. Analysis and review will continue for months if not years.By some lights it was a breakthrough to have China and India and Brazil talking about targets -- even...
Deal in Durban - Day 8
Blog | Saturday, 10 Dec 2011I and a couple thousand others just pulled an all-nighter here in Durban. We have a deal. The deal is that we now have a follow up to the Kyoto Protocol. There are some things that are good about it...
Overtime in Durban - Day 7
Blog | Saturday, 10 Dec 2011It’s just gone midnight here in Durban. Officially the agenda was supposed to end at 5 pm Friday. So we are now 31 hours over - and counting. Earlier today smaller groupings of countries were meeting...
On the brink in Durban - Day 6
Blog | Saturday, 10 Dec 2011It’s somewhere close to midnight here in Durban, and most of the attendees have been sent home. The most senior officials from each country are staying to negotiate. This includes Ministers,...
Hope in Durban - Day 5
Blog | Friday, 09 Dec 2011There’s always lots of hope around these conventions. Generally, we hope to achieve a strong agreement to prevent the world from reaching dangerous warming. And most are happy to hope for something...