First steps

The Hill Times only includes the latest on the amended Bill C-30 as an afterthought in an article on the Cons' crime bill intransigence. But if the opposition parties are indeed able to cooperate, a new private member's bill could lead to one of the most significant results of the current Parliament:

NDP MP Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley, B.C.), his party's environment critic, said the Conservatives are "cutting off their nose to spite their face" because they are unwilling to work with the opposition on climate change issues. "They put a filter or almost a complete block on the Clean Air Act. They wanted to be able to reference it without actually doing anything about the environment and they're also not going to bring back parts of the bill that the Conservatives voted for, so they're cutting off their nose to spite their face," he said. "They're so determined to have their own way, not do much for climate change, only because what I can get out of it is an ideological bent, or some allegiance to the office towers in Calgary."

Mr. Cullen introduced a private members' bill last week that resembles Bill C-30.

It's still anybody's guess whether or not Cullen's bill - or one to a similar effect from another opposition member - will be able to work its way through Parliament before the Cons are brought down.

But at the very least, this should remove any doubt about whether or not there's some possibility for cooperation between the opposition parties. And if the Libs and Bloc can once again agree on the contents of Cullen's bill, then there's a clear opportunity for the opposition parties to join forces to get something positive done.