I mentioned in a previous post that Canadians might be facing an election soon over the Conservative government’s budget. That turned out not to happen (all three opposition parties had to oppose it, and only two did).
Instead, something much more interesting may happen: The three opposition parties have finalized their much-improved version of a Clean Air Act, with hard targets on CO2 emissions and penalties for those who don’t make the necessary cuts. This leaves the government in an uncomfortable position: either accept a bill that they hate, or call an election over it.
Canadian politics have been pretty unpredictable as of late, so I won’t risk a guess on how this will all turn out. But it will be interesting to see the environment take center stage in our national debate.
One big remaining question is whether the Conservatives will succeed in making this a "law and order" election, like some pundits and bloggers are speculating, or whether the Liberals will be able to keep the focus on the environment.
(The new and improved Clean Air Act apparently incorporates some of the features of the Liberal White Paper I discussed previously.)
