ENVIRONMENT
On the rim of the nation, the new boss is looking good
By PAUL SULLIVAN (Globe and Mail)
He won't officially be prime minister for a few days, but when Paul Martin came to Vancouver last week, he was definitely the boss. The main item on the agenda was a fundraiser, which was enthusiastically attended by 1,500 Liberals and Liberal wannabes who came to tug their forelocks and get close to the power. It is the kind of thing we on the rim of the nation expect from our prime ministers: They come to town when they want something -- money, usually.
But then Mr. Martin did something that I (for one) would like to expect: He turned up the next morning, jet-lagged and gravelly voiced, at the Western Canadian Environmental Technologies Forum, held in the splendour of Simon Fraser University's Wosk Centre for Dialogue. His presence at what would otherwise be dismissed as a wonk-fest for people interested in alternative energy, "including fuel cells, clean-fuel technologies, small-scale hydro and biomass co-generation systems," brought out a strong showing of local MPs. Some, like Hedy Fry and Sophie Leung, need all the face time they can get with the new boss, as they're expected to encounter strong nomination challenges from freshly minted Liberals such as former NDP premier Ujjal Dosanjh.
Stephen Owen was there, comfortably installed at the boss's right hand, because he's secretary of state for Western economic diversification, the meeting's host. Environment Minister David Anderson was . . . elsewhere in the room. A fly on the wall at the meeting to arrange the seating would have been entertained throughout. But I want to suspend journalistic disbelief long enough to refer back to the last time I watched a prime minister interact with the locals. High-tech was hip, and Jean Chrétien was here to meet with the local community. His people set up a ridiculous photo-op in a trendy, crowded Yaletown bar. To demonstrate his own street cred, the "little guy" posed with a cue at a pool table, then was whisked off to a brief, private huddle with selected alpha high-tech types, leaving the media to bark for scraps outside the door. Friday, Mr. Martin hung in there for more than an hour discussing enviro-tech policy in full view of the media. If the new boss was trying to differentiate himself from the old boss, he succeeded.
This industry is actually the future, especially if we expect to hang onto our cushy lifestyles and not choke in our own waste. Yet, according to a 2003 Conference Board of Canada study, Western Canada ranks last in the nation for R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP, and has the lowest number of degrees in science and engineering. And because the West depends so heavily on resource industries, the impact of the Kyoto accord, which calls for a massive reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions (to which Canada and Mr. Martin are still committed, despite reports to the contrary), will come down hardest on us.
This forum was a good idea from Mr. Owen's people, and Mr. Martin's presence was a better idea. As well, his performance was gratifying -- folksy, attentive and knowledgeable. He was clear about what he wanted at the end of the day -- a few practical initiatives that don't just entail federal handouts. Then, as enviro-tech people from across the West rolled up their sleeves, he faced the media, again outlining his position on Kyoto -- he supports the accord, but Canada has no plan for making it work. Well, duh. Mr. Chrétien rushed Parliament into endorsing the accord before ascending into the clouds, and left his usurper to figure out the details. And meetings such as the Western Canadian Environmental Technology Forum are exactly the right places to hammer out such details, among people who know what they're talking about, what's at stake and what will work. One idea, for example, calls for using environmental technology to develop rural and remote communities, an idea that can be used as a model for similar developments in emerging nations. Sort of like Candu without the fallout.
In Nirvana, Jack Layton and Stephen Harper/Peter MacKay would be there as well, learning about the real challenges and opportunities presented by environmental technology. Unfortunately, this is Vancouver, not Nirvana, although we occasionally get the two confused. And it would have been nice if the new boss had stuck around and talked turkey for the rest of the day. But affairs of state, etc. However, if he wants to cure Western alienation, what we need is more of the same: the real -- not the posed -- presence of the prime minister of Canada, in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, wherever Western Canadians meet to wrestle with the real challenges we face every day. We need a PM like Bill Clinton without the bimbos, someone who actually understands and cares about policy. Could Paul Martin be that PM? If his turn at the enviro-tech meeting means anything, he can be. And after 10 years of tokens and trinkets from Ottawa, he'd better be.
On the rim of the nation, the new boss is looking good
By PAUL SULLIVAN (Globe and Mail)
He won't officially be prime minister for a few days, but when Paul Martin came to Vancouver last week, he was definitely the boss. The main item on the agenda was a fundraiser, which was enthusiastically attended by 1,500 Liberals and Liberal wannabes who came to tug their forelocks and get close to the power. It is the kind of thing we on the rim of the nation expect from our prime ministers: They come to town when they want something -- money, usually.
But then Mr. Martin did something that I (for one) would like to expect: He turned up the next morning, jet-lagged and gravelly voiced, at the Western Canadian Environmental Technologies Forum, held in the splendour of Simon Fraser University's Wosk Centre for Dialogue. His presence at what would otherwise be dismissed as a wonk-fest for people interested in alternative energy, "including fuel cells, clean-fuel technologies, small-scale hydro and biomass co-generation systems," brought out a strong showing of local MPs. Some, like Hedy Fry and Sophie Leung, need all the face time they can get with the new boss, as they're expected to encounter strong nomination challenges from freshly minted Liberals such as former NDP premier Ujjal Dosanjh.
Stephen Owen was there, comfortably installed at the boss's right hand, because he's secretary of state for Western economic diversification, the meeting's host. Environment Minister David Anderson was . . . elsewhere in the room. A fly on the wall at the meeting to arrange the seating would have been entertained throughout. But I want to suspend journalistic disbelief long enough to refer back to the last time I watched a prime minister interact with the locals. High-tech was hip, and Jean Chrétien was here to meet with the local community. His people set up a ridiculous photo-op in a trendy, crowded Yaletown bar. To demonstrate his own street cred, the "little guy" posed with a cue at a pool table, then was whisked off to a brief, private huddle with selected alpha high-tech types, leaving the media to bark for scraps outside the door. Friday, Mr. Martin hung in there for more than an hour discussing enviro-tech policy in full view of the media. If the new boss was trying to differentiate himself from the old boss, he succeeded.
This industry is actually the future, especially if we expect to hang onto our cushy lifestyles and not choke in our own waste. Yet, according to a 2003 Conference Board of Canada study, Western Canada ranks last in the nation for R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP, and has the lowest number of degrees in science and engineering. And because the West depends so heavily on resource industries, the impact of the Kyoto accord, which calls for a massive reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions (to which Canada and Mr. Martin are still committed, despite reports to the contrary), will come down hardest on us.
This forum was a good idea from Mr. Owen's people, and Mr. Martin's presence was a better idea. As well, his performance was gratifying -- folksy, attentive and knowledgeable. He was clear about what he wanted at the end of the day -- a few practical initiatives that don't just entail federal handouts. Then, as enviro-tech people from across the West rolled up their sleeves, he faced the media, again outlining his position on Kyoto -- he supports the accord, but Canada has no plan for making it work. Well, duh. Mr. Chrétien rushed Parliament into endorsing the accord before ascending into the clouds, and left his usurper to figure out the details. And meetings such as the Western Canadian Environmental Technology Forum are exactly the right places to hammer out such details, among people who know what they're talking about, what's at stake and what will work. One idea, for example, calls for using environmental technology to develop rural and remote communities, an idea that can be used as a model for similar developments in emerging nations. Sort of like Candu without the fallout.
In Nirvana, Jack Layton and Stephen Harper/Peter MacKay would be there as well, learning about the real challenges and opportunities presented by environmental technology. Unfortunately, this is Vancouver, not Nirvana, although we occasionally get the two confused. And it would have been nice if the new boss had stuck around and talked turkey for the rest of the day. But affairs of state, etc. However, if he wants to cure Western alienation, what we need is more of the same: the real -- not the posed -- presence of the prime minister of Canada, in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, wherever Western Canadians meet to wrestle with the real challenges we face every day. We need a PM like Bill Clinton without the bimbos, someone who actually understands and cares about policy. Could Paul Martin be that PM? If his turn at the enviro-tech meeting means anything, he can be. And after 10 years of tokens and trinkets from Ottawa, he'd better be.
posted by D @ 5:43 AM
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