Quebec & global warming
Canada has the world's worst record among industrialized countries for emitting greenhouse-gas emissions that cause global warming. Of all the countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol, Canada's emissions rose the fastest - faster than even U.S. emissions under George W. Bush.
Climate-change conference in Copenhagen may arrive at the right moment...
"Our previous record, however, is so bad, and the Harper's government's interest in climate change so ephemeral, that almost no country in the talks gives Canada much credibility at all" said Jeffrey Simpson in the Globe and Mail.
Canada is almost alone in flogging asbestos around the world, or at least preventing more serious impediments to its export, all to protect some jobs in the Quebec town of Thetford Mines.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon lent his support Wednesday to Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s call for greater provincial government influence on Canada’s climate change policy.
“It would not be abnormal that important states like Quebec be able to have their voice heard in this discussion”, said PM Francois Fillon.
Charest, during a visit to Brussels last week, publicly urged Ottawa to consult with the provinces on its position heading into the Copenhagen talks December 7-18.
But, in an opinion piece published Wednesday in French-language daily Le Monde, Nobel Prize-winning author Le Clezio denounces the Romaine River hydro project launched by the Quebec government last May.
The French author, who received the Nobel literature prize in 2008, decried the impact the $6.5 billion project will have on the region's natural beauty. He also contends the river's destruction would be an environmental catastrophe harmful to the Inuit way of life.
"Forever, the river has been visited by nomadic Inuit - the Native American tribe known to Quebecers as the Montagnais, " the prize-winning author wrote.
"The Inuit live in harmony with the river, it is their mother. For them, it is a sacred river linked through millennia to their history as it brings them game, fish and medicinal plants and berries."
In his article, Le Clezio also mentions Inuit poet Rita Mestokosho, who has spearheaded the fight against the behemoth hydroelectric project.
"It is easy to criticize that decision from a distance," he notes, but adds that he still thinks the river's destruction would be an irreversible tragedy with as yet unforeseen consequences.
Jean Charest defends the project arguing it has the support of the community.
