Environment Minister Jim Prentice took over from Stephen Harper as enemy No. 1 in the Quebec opinion pages this past week. Mr. Prentice’s recent criticism of the Charest government’s climate-change strategy has prompted several angry rebuttals in the francophone press.
During a speech in Calgary on Feb. 1, Mr. Prentice declared it “absolutely counter-productive and utterly pointless” for provinces to set and pursue their own greenhouse gas reduction targets and he singled out Quebec’s new vehicle emissions regulations as “one of the most glaring examples of the folly of attempting to do it alone.”
La Presse columnist Alain Dubuc called the minister’s comments surreal. “Since when,” Mr. Dubuc asked, “does a minister in charge of protecting the environment criticize a province for doing too much?” He went on to speculate that perhaps the Conservatives were trying to get even after Jean Charest’s criticism of their environmental record during the climate-change conference in Copenhagen. “The Conservatives, who don’t abide opposing views, are simply returning the favour,” Mr. Dubuc quipped.
Le Soleil’s Raymond Giroux labeled Mr. Prentice’s comments “a political bombshell” and accused the minister of displaying a “worrying” case of “Quebecophobia.” Mr. Giroux seconded Mr. Dubuc’s suggestion that Mr. Prentice’s criticism might be, at least in part, an attempt to get back at Mr. Charest for his criticism of Mr. Harper. He was not, however, surprised by Mr. Prentice’s speech. “He’s just doing his job, as a part of a Conservative government that has no intention of saving the planet and which uses any means necessary to slow down and deter any initiative moving in that direction,” Mr. Giroux wrote.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/green-criticism-has-quebeckers-seeing-red/article1461176/
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