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Overview
 $300 million later, here we are saddled with more of the same... a bigger minority Conservative government. Fought in the midst of one of the world's worst financial crisis, this election was a triumph of management over vision, fiscal restraint over progressive measures, big oil over water and air.
As other nations see the need for change, Canada moves to the right, out of step even with its southern neighbour.
62% of Canadians voted for parties with credible plans to curb climate change, but vote splitting amongst them coupled with a drop in voter turnout led the Conservatives to victory.
Analysis
According to Simon Fraser University’s, Andrew Heard, "the main factor in Conservative success was the big drop in turnout among Liberal supporters. While the Green Party managed to split the Conservative's opposition by capturing a number of defecting Liberals and NDPers, the Conservatives benefited even more from the hundreds of thousands of disenchanted Liberals who simply stayed home".
University of Lethbridge, Maple Leaf Web states that "One of the most important factors in the 2008 election was the economy in particular, the highly publicized weakening of the international finance industry and the sharp drop in the stock market that coincided with the election period.
The Conservative Party attempted to calm fears by suggesting that Canada’s economic fundamentals were strong and that the federal government’s best approach was to lower taxes and exercise fiscal restraint. The Conservatives also attempted to undercut support for the other parties by arguing they would damage the economy further by raising taxes.
The drop in Liberal support may have been due in part to a concern over that party’s proposed environmental policy ,known as the Green Shift, and its impact on the economy".
Water Policies
Water.ca looked into the water and climate change policies of the four Federal political parties that elected members to Parliament. What we found was that while all parties pledged to protect our national freshwater resources from bulk exports, their platforms were otherwise based on generalities and offered very few concrete measures.
In a Sierra Club Platform Analysis of where the parties stood on water in relation to the 7 Priority Areas and 25 Actions outlined in Changing the Flow: a blueprint for federal action on freshwater (October 2007, Gordon Water Group) none of the parties faired very well as measured by the number of specific recommendations reflected in their electoral commitments.
The Green Party scored 10 out of 27 points, the New Democratic party 9.5, the Liberals 8 and the Conservatives 1.
You can read the full Sierra Club Analysis
here
The Conservatives also refused to answer a survey submitted by Sierra Club Canada and Greenpeace Canada on environment issues.
Canada's 'new' Government
Conservative Party - Protecting natural resources and building a clean energy superpower
Harper said that a re-elected Conservative Government would:
• Prohibit the exportation of bitumen to countries outside Canada that do not have equivalent emission reduction targets.
• Re-affirm Canada’s position that the North American Free Trade Agreement cannot require Canada to export bulk water to other NAFTA countries.
• Continue to promote the development of northern pipelines to bring oil and gas to markets in Canada and throughout the world.
Harper also listed steps the Conservatives have taken to protect Canada’s environment, including:
• A regulatory framework that will impose mandatory emissions reduction targets on Canadian industry and reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by an absolute 20 per cent by 2020.
• A $2-billion ecoENERGY initiative to promote smarter energy use, greater use of clean energy sources, and cleaner use of traditional energy sources.
• Protection of numerous conservation areas, including the world’s largest freshwater protection area.
“When it comes to balancing energy security, the environment and the economy, the Opposition parties are offering grandiose, risky, and unproven theories,” Prime Minister Harper said. “Our plan is credible, achievable and will position Canada as a leader both in environmental protection and economic growth.”
True Colours?
"Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations."
"Implementing Kyoto will cripple the oil and gas industry, which is essential to the economies of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia . . . - Stephen Harper, 2002
A Federal Perspective on Water Quantity Issues
This Environment Canada Report (December 2007) was not released by the Harper government; it was obtained by the Council of Canadians and MiningWatch Canada under the Access to Information Act.
The document is heavily edited and difficult to read. We reprint highlight below.
Full Report
Canada’s Water Supply
Canada is considered to have an abundance of freshwater. Canada does possess 20% of the world’s freshwater, but in terms of renewable supply, Canada only has about 7%.; much less than Brazil (18%) and Russia, and about the same as the US. The majority of our major rivers flow north away from our major population centres, most of which are within 300 km of the Canada-US border.
To adequately manage water resources, Canada requires timely and reliable hydrometric data and information, but there are gaps in understanding the water supply.For instance, detailed knowledge and monitoring of the factors controlling the renewable surface freshwater in the country’s lakes, rivers, and glaciers is limited, as is knowledge with respect to the minimum amount of water required to maintain healthy ecosystems; both in terms of defining how much water an ecosystem requires, and also establishing a methods to determine the amount that is required to meet such needs on a case by case basis.
Furthermore, there are a variety of uncertainties, including climate change and population growth that cloud our ability to extrapolate past events to inform the future. The result is that governments often design infrastructure and water use licenses based on short-term data that is not representative of hydrological conditions required in the region.
Despite the large amount of freshwater estimated to be contained in aquifers in principle, actual knowledge about groundwater quantity, its quality and renewal rate is sparse and often inadequate for management. This poses significant risks for those who rely on groundwater for their water supply, which represents approximately 33% of Canadians. This percentage is much higher in some provinces/regions – PEI is 100% groundwater dependant and New Brunswick 60%. Knowledge of Canadian groundwater quantity, quality and recharge is also not keeping pace with that of the United States, where the second country-wide water census in the past 12 years is underway. Considering that there are several transboundary aquifers between Canada and the US , there is an increasing need to establish a complete understanding of these shared resources. Our lack of data places Canada at a strategic disadvantage for bilateral negotiations with the US.../more
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