The next great threat

When a PMPM-appointed group criticizes Martin over his handling of climate change, you know there's a serious issue being ignored:

The danger to the country from climate change is "perhaps unmatched in times of peace," says the draft of a blunt report from the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. Created by the federal government in 1994, the round table is a blue-ribbon advisory body of business and labour leaders, academics, environmentalists and civic activists. The 24 members are appointed directly by the Prime Minister, giving the group an inside track in Ottawa policy discussions...

But because the federal and provincial governments have so far fumbled the issue, most Canadians are cynical about climate change, taking a wait-and-see attitude. Political leaders must move climate change away from being a strictly environmental issue, urges the report.

"It must be seen as an issue that touches on the foundations of Canadians' way of life — jobs, economic competitiveness, human health and cultural values."...

Although the round table's analysis largely echoes the prevailing scientific views on climate change, its report is a forceful excoriation of both the public and private sectors in Canada for failing to rise to the challenge.

From Martin's standpoint, the report is apparently a convenient way to get climate change back in the news in advance of the upcoming Montreal summit. For the rest of us, though, it should be a reminder that the current government has done essentially nothing to date on an issue that has potentially disastrous implications for Canadians...and that contrary to the wishful thinking of the right, the private sector isn't going to change for the better without some serious motivation to do so.