Angry in the Great White North

Elizabeth May, the new leader of the Green Party in Canada, is getting her knuckles rapped for making unsubstantiated allegations:

The Green party is accusing the Conservative government of trying to muzzle the federal environment commissioner, but officials flatly deny the charge.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser’s office acknowledged Thursday that it is reviewing whether Environment Commissioner Johanne Gelinas will continue to issue independent reports. But a spokeswoman denied any political motivation.

"We undertook this review at our own initiative," said Susan Wheeler. "To the best of our knowledge, government isn’t even aware we were doing this. It isn’t coming from government at all."

Earlier Thursday, Green party Leader Elizabeth May said the Conservatives were trying to muzzle Gelinas, who delivered a stinging report in late September that said Ottawa needs to take climate change more seriously.

May claimed Gelinas had been told she can no longer file separate, independent reports and will be required to submit her reviews as part of the larger auditor general reports.

I'm guessing this bit of news won't make it to the Green Party's clipping page. There is a lot of value in green policy. As an engineer, I abhor waste -- an elegant solution is also an efficient solution. The Greens have to stop assuming that they are the only ones who believe that, and that everyone else, especially Conservatives, are eager to pollute just because they are irredeemably evil.

It's not the case. Still, I'm not holding my breath waiting for Elizabeth May to issue an apology, or even just a retraction. Too bad, because doing so would give her some credibility, and might make her a few friends on the Hill.