The path forward

The latest poll numbers have to be disappointing for the NDP. But while Stephane Dion's ascent to the Lib leadership may have caused some poor results in the short term, it also offers an opportunity for the NDP to improve its standing by taking the lead on an issue where it has long pointed in the direction now travelled by the Libs.

After all, Dion staked his leadership campaign on the importance of the environment. But his plan at the moment is apparently to complain about the Cons' actions in the short term while waiting until after some future election to make any changes. Which seems to be rather a waste of time when a majority of MPs in the House of Commons appear to agree on the need for added environmental action.

Under those circumstances, it only makes sense for the NDP to centre its core message in the next few weeks around a public call to the Libs (as well as the Bloc, the Greens and environmental groups, not to mention the Cons if they wanted to participate) to agree on, and then team up to pass, a package of legislative changes on greenhouse gas emissions (and other agreed environmental issues). Obviously the NDP's own Kyoto plan would be a great place to start, but the call should include a willingness to listen to and incorporate any other idea which would help toward the end goal.

It's worth noting that such a plan likely wouldn't leave any party without a means of campaigning on the environment. Since the opposition parties wouldn't be able to pass a money bill, all spending measures would have to receive the assent of a willing government - likely leaving Dion with his prized incentives policy as a campaign issue for the next federal election. And if by some chance the Cons were willing to sign on to a full package, surely any environmentally responsible politician would prefer that outcome to waiting until a future trip to the polls.

Of course, it's always possible that the Libs would scuttle the possibility by refusing to join in. But if so, that would only cast doubt on the reputation for putting principle over power that Dion has managed to cultivate. Which, contrasted against the NDP's continued willingness to cooperate, would at least seem likely to pull a good chunk of the centre-left swing vote back toward the NDP.

It's within the reach of Canada's opposition parties to pass a set of statutory emissions targets as well as other positive environmental legislation. And the NDP can only help both its own standing and Canada's environmental policy by putting forward a public push toward that end.

Update: Chantal Hebert speculates that it may instead be the NDP and Cons alone who manage to work out a deal. Which could also lead to good results, assuming the Cons are willing to actually make a push to reach Canada's Kyoto commitment rather than preserving their own strategy of delaying any real targets. But there's still no benefit to leaving the other parties out of the discussions to start with.