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Letter: Federal NDP leader challenged on oil subsidies amid climate crisis

Writer questions willingness to override provincial governments
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Everyone has seen the smoke and the fires: they just keep getting worse, and B.C. has become the new California.

Droughts on the Prairies, fires in Southern Turkey, Greece, Italy and Siberia, floods in Germany, China, Northern Turkey and Southern Russia, and now an election where every party will be speaking in favour of the environment. Talk about the four Horsemen of the Environmental Apocalypse.

The three main parties are lying though their teeth. We’ll start with the smallest one:

The NDP are on the horns of a dilemma. While they advocated a ‘Green New Deal’ in the last election, they refused to comment on the increased subsidizing of fossil fuel extraction by NDP provincial governments (that by other provincial governments was “bad”) and did nothing while holding the balance of power in a minority government.

Currently, they are only proposing “setting up a climate emergency cabinet committee to help jump-start reducing emissions by 50 per cent come 2030,” which, since they are not going to form the government, is an easy promise to make.

For them, the question is: Will the federal NDP demand the use of federal paramountcy powers in the constitution to override provincial governments, including those of the NDP (with their control of natural resources) who want to subsidize fossil fuel extraction? Yes or no? Various candidates will continue to say nice things about the environment, but their votes will be whipped in Parliament and the answer will be NO!

I am no longer willing to give Jagmeet the benefit of the doubt. This isn’t a trial, and he can’t plead the Canada Evidence Act: he doesn’t have the right to remain silent rather than incriminate himself.

Read more: North Okanagan-Shuswap MP talks snap election, climate change and freedom of speech

Read more: Trudeau’s election gamble for a majority government garners skepticism from expert

Richard Smiley,

Anglemont



lachlan@saobserver.net
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