Neglect by any other name

It isn't often that a party that's both as image-conscious and as loose with the truth as the Cons acknowledges the need to correct itself, especially on a matter of form. Which makes it noteworthy that the Cons have the party's admitted that their environmental policy falls short of anything that can be called a "plan":

After months of promising a comprehensive "Made-in-Canada" environment plan, word from the federal Conservative government is there won't be a formal plan after all.

A senior official in the office of Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said the word "plan" is no longer being used. It's now an "approach."...

Since being elected last winter, the Conservatives have deferred most questions about environmental issues by referring to the coming plan.

Environmentalists say they're not surprised at the shift in terminology.

"We've known for month's (sic) there's no plan," said Louise Comeau of the Sage Climate Project. "What they're planning is a series of announcements."

Now, it's understandable that the Cons may have recognized how empty their own set of disconnected ideas looked in comparison to an actual plan. But the sudden lowering of the Cons' target only emphasizes just how far they're out of touch with a Canadian public which already recognizes the need for far more action than the Cons have any intention of delivering.