Thursday, June 17, 2010

He's done it again

I noted in a previous post that my MP, the Hon. Ed Fast voted against Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. Thankfully, the bill passed second reading. But the honourable member has done it again - voted "Nay" to Bill C-469, an Act to establish a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights. Thankfully, this bill also passed second reading in the house on June 16, 2010.

Clearly, this guy has demonstrated little concern for the environment and very likely doesn't believe such a thing as global warming exists. What is it with the Conservatives that the majority of them do not believe in science? Is it because some of the more fundamentalist of them believe that the earth is only 6,000 years old and man coexisted with the dinosaurs?! In my opinion, the Hon. member has permitted Conservative ideology to trump any intellectual (read "scientific") consideration; and the Conservative ideology has much to do with the fact that the prime minister comes from a province where oil is king.

This is a quote from openparliament.ca representing the Conservatives' view on the bill.

"The bill [C-469] raises problems with respect to new spending in two areas. First, part 2 would authorize environmental protection action against the government by enabling Canadians to seek recourse in the Federal Court to protect the environment in relation to any action or inaction by the government, which has resulted in significant environmental harm."
- Tom Lukiwski, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government.
Does this mean that another reason for Conservatives to oppose the bill is because members of the general public would be able to sue the federal government for its action or inaction resulting in environmental harm?! I can scarcely believe my eyes when reading this! The government wants no responsibility for anything to do with the environment!!! And I thought they had an opportunity to lead the country in their stewardship/guardianship of our environment?!

Again, I urge any and all of you who vote, to follow the actions of your MP (on openparliament.ca) whomever that may be. It might make a difference in your vote when election time comes around again.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

PEI Meeting on Pension Reform

I've said before that the time for pension reform is NOW. Politicians have known for a very long time that this pension crisis was coming, yet they have done nothing to prepare for it. Their only longterm planning extends as far into the future as the next election. Here's hoping some agreement can be reached in Charlottetown between the federal and provincial finance ministers over the next few days.

I particulary like the last paragraph:
"They should put their foot on the gas pedal because we're in a crisis now and it's going to get worse unless they do something," he [Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti] said. "They should have done something 20 years ago, so Minister Flaherty has got a lot of catching up to do."
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Start.shaw.ca - National News Article

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Moving Closer to Pension Reform

From CBC News, this story moves us one step closer to pension reform. But not everyone is in agreement:

CBC News - Politics - Pension reform gets mixed reaction