Angry in the Great White North

Watch Mike Duffy's interview last night with Elizabeth May (down the right side bar). In it, Elizabeth May makes the remarkable statement that as far as the Green Party is concerned, the Conservative position on global warming as outlined in the Throne Speech is not worth fighting an election over.

As you might recall, Kyoto was declared dead and buried. No way was Canada going to meet the targets, and more importantly, Canada was not even to bother trying. Instead, a new schedule has been developed and a new way of measuring success.

The Tories have been universally condemned by environmentalists over this approach:

Johanne Whitmore, a climate change policy analyst with the Pembina Institute, said Canada needs to return to its Kyoto obligations.

"We have next to no credibility on the international negotiation level,' she told CTV Newsnet. "We need to be supportive of a mandate that will launch negotiations for the second phase of Kyoto."

That was on September 23, only three weeks ago.

Now three weeks later the leader of the Green Party says it's fine. Drop Kyoto. Whatever.

Why would Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, do this?

She wouldn't.

But Elizabeth May, Liberal Party lapdog, might not have had a choice.

Ever since the Stephane Dion promised not to run a candidate in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova so that the Green Party candidate, Elizabeth May herself, would not suffer from vote splitting with the Liberals, the question has been what did the Liberals get in return.

Last night we learned what it was.

I'm willing to bet Elizabeth May was directed by Stephane Dion to provide the Liberals a strong green cover to allow the Throne Speech to stand. The Liberals are in no shape to fight an election. If Stephane Dion doesn't want to fight one, he needs to be able to allow the government's position on Kyoto to pass while minimizing the damage from accusations that he had sold out the environmental plank of the Liberal platform, the very issue that formed the core of his leadership run.

Now Stephane Dion can say that if the Green Party thinks the government's environmental plan is tolerable, then the Liberal Party can hold its collective nose and not force an election over this issue.

You have to give credit to Stephane Dion on this one -- this part of his plan worked.

Of course, when he agreed that the Liberals would not run in Central Nova, I'm thinking that he wasn't expecting payback in this sort of situation.