Environmentalist chosen as new leader of Liberal Party in Canada
After losing in the last parliamentary election in Canada, former Prime Minister Paul Martin resigned the leadership of the Liberal Party leading to this past weekend's leadership convention. After four ballots over two days the party selected Stephane Dion as their new leader. If the Liberals win in the next election - something likely to occur within the next year - Dion will be the new prime minister. Dion is a former political science professor from Quebec City who if he were running in the United States might be more likely to run for the Green Party than the Democrats. He previously served as environment minister under from PM Jean Chretien. His leadership campaign had three main focuses, social justice, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability. Upon being announced the winner on the fourth and final ballot, his first words were "How did I get here? Canadians are as concerned as I am about building a sustainable environment for our children." and "The Issue of our times is sustainable development." If he becomes Prime Minister, reductions in emissions and energy consumption along with increased emphasis on biofuels and renewable energy are likely to be a major element of his government's policies. He even named his dog, a husky, Kyoto.
[Source: Canada.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Darin 12:39PM (12/04/2006)
Very interesting. Dion wasn't expected to win, and he wasn't supported by the party's "old guard." The two much more traditional front-runners split the vote and allowed Dion to run up the middle to victory.
The big question is whether Canadians are prepared to put their money where their mouths are at the next general election (in polling, the environment often tops their list of concerns) and embrace the issue(s) as a new pillar of the Liberal party.
Some specifics from Dion's energy platform:
- introduce targeted tax credits on highly efficient vehicles of up to $2,000 (p. 20)
- the government will set out a timeline for Canada Post to convert its 6 700 strong urban fleet of delivery trucks to electric or hybrid vehicles (p.41)
- join with other leading jurisdictions including California, New York and nine other states in implementing the 30% reduction standard [in CO2 exhaust emissions, ie. 30% increase in fuel efficiency] (p. 46)
http://stephanedion.ca/files/stephanedion.ca/SD_ECC_Plan_EN.pdf
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