Prime Minister Stephen Harper told an international audience Monday that Canada will not meet its Kyoto accord targets but can be a model for the rest of the world in battling climate change.
Harper blamed the previous Liberal government for years of foot-dragging and said it is now impossible for Canada to meet Kyoto without destroying its economy.
"Frankly, up to now, our country has been engaged in a lot of 'talking the talk,' but not, 'walking the walk,' when it comes to greenhouse gases," Harper told a business audience in Germany.
"Our predecessors in government committed our country to the Kyoto protocol ... and then they did nothing to achieve this goal."
Grrrr. While the Liberals deserve to be taken to task for their poor record on the environment, Harper is, as usual, just looking for another way to beat up his political opponents. Let's be honest: if the Liberals had actually done anything about climate change while Harper was in opposition, he would have accused them of damaging the Canadian economy and/or favouring Central Canada over the oil-producing regions of the country. There would have been attack ads on the subject. And the National Post would have consumed entire forests of trees writing articles questioning whether humans are having an effect on climate change.
Besides, blaming the Liberals is getting to be tiresome, given that the Conservatives have been in power for nearly 18 months now. Why not blame Wilfrid Laurier or Mackenzie Bowell while you're at it?
And, for crying out loud, could our Prime Minister please stop bashing his political opponents when speaking to an international audience? They aren't interested in hearing about Canadian internal political affairs.