Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Liberals Bite Back

The main reason I questioned the Conservative attacks ads was because they put even more focus on their achilles heel, the environment. Today, the Liberals bite back:
Stephen Harper, who now styles himself as a green prime minister, once ridiculed the Kyoto accord as a money-sucking socialist scheme and promised he would battle to defeat it.

His scathing view of the global treaty, which questioned the science of climate change, was included in a 2002 fundraising letter sent to members of his now-defunct Canadian Alliance party.

It was circulated Tuesday by the Liberals, who said it unmasks Harper as a climate-change denier.

"Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations,'' says the letter, signed by Harper.

"Implementing Kyoto will cripple the oil and gas industry, which is essential to the economies of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia . . .

"Workers and consumers everywhere in Canada will lose. THERE ARE NO CANADIAN WINNERS UNDER THE KYOTO ACCORD.''

Harper, who now accuses the Liberals of having done nothing to reduce greenhouse gases, went on to promise a "battle'' to defeat the Chretien Liberals' efforts to introduce Kyoto-implementation legislation in the House of Commons.

"But we can't do it alone. It will take an army of Canadians to beat Kyoto, just as it did to beat (the) Charlottetown (constitutional accord),'' he wrote.

There is really nothing new here, just another reminder that Harper has no environmental legs to stand on, so he best watch all the attacks. Harper doesn't sound credible, his rhetoric is stilted and overtly bland, in short, he can't win this battle, despite the Liberal record. Stephen Harper on the offensive won't fly, if he wants to delve into others "past", then he best prepare himself for "incoming". It's almost too easy.

7 comments:

ottlib said...

It is rather silly to launch ads questioning your opponents about a certain issue when your own record on that issue is spotty as well.

It just invites further scrutiny of your own record.

I realize the strategy might be to neutralize climate change as an election issue by trying to show the Liberals are no better but there is just one problem with that strategy.

Regardless of whether the environment is the burning issue in the next election or not Stephane Dion is still going to release a comprehensive environmental platform and the Conservatives will have to respond with something other than what happened in the past.

Walks With Coffee said...

"It is rather silly to launch ads questioning your opponents about a certain issue when your own record on that issue is spotty as well."

You have the gift of understatement. "spotty" indeed!

Steve V said...

"It just invites further scrutiny of your own record."


Just imagine the Environment Commissioner's report for the last year.

Anonymous said...

Imagining the Environment Commissioner's report is all we'll be able to do. There won't be another for the foreseeable future. The guy Fraser stuck in there, Ron Thompson, is sure to be Fraser player.

Incidentally, in his bio thingy at the AG website it's mentioned that he's been working closely with the Enviro Commissioner on something called "forward planning".

What would that be I wonder if all the Enviro Commish is supposed to do is report on existing programs?

Perhaps "forward planning" is new-speak for undermining your colleague in order to score her job.

Steve V said...

dana

Here is a little nugget in the CP piece on Gelinas firing:

"Rumours also swirled Tuesday about a personality conflict between Gelinas and Fraser, and possible political interference from the Conservatives."

Interesting to see if this angle has legs.

Anonymous said...

Perish the thought that the Conservatives would be found to have interfered with the Environment Commissioner on the same day that it's revealed Bush forced scientists to lie about the global warming threat.

My poor old heart wouldn't take the shock that Harper and Bush are cut from the same cloth.

Who would ever have thought such a thing?

Anonymous said...

Yep, this takes me back to the good ol' days of the Grewal tapes, Harpor trying to distance himself, pointing the finger at the other guys, an Mp looking awfully shifty while the protectors of the law wait and wonder if what they've been handed is soap or S**T. He managed to twist himself out of that mess, despite finger prints all over the place. You knew Harpor's heavy hand was going to get caught one time or another? I hope for all the Cons -supporters that this habit of bumping off the messenger -- Kinglsey, conflict of interest commish, Garth etc -- sticks.