Reaction Roundup: what the world is saying about the Senate killing the Climate Change Accountability Act
One traditional definition of “chutzpah” is for a person to kill their parents and then beg for mercy as an orphan. Stephen Harper apparently thinks that’s a grand idea. After having his party’s senators kill the opposition-supported climate bill C-311 yesterday, Harper responded to Liberal and NDP catcalls by saying that if those parties are so upset over the fate of C-311, they should “support the government’s Senate reform bills that are before the House.” Say this for Harper: ballsy.
With the story still developing, we scoured the Web to see what people have been saying about the death of C-311.
• John Ivison at the National Post leads off with high dudgeon, with a headline calling Harper’s Senate “Triple-U: Unelected, Unrepresentative, and Under his thumb.” (For the kids in the audience, he’s making a joke about the Triple-E Senate.) Ivison’s 14-year-old nephew plays the voice of reason, which is pretty awesome for 14-year-old politics nerds everywhere, but pretty lame for the Parliament of Canada.
• The Victoria Times-Colonist has a column by Jack Knox, who has interviewed one of Canada’s top climate scientists, Andrew Weaver. Weaver is understandably unimpressed with Harper, but then Harper probably understands that climate scientists aren’t a key voting bloc for him. Weaver jokes about crawling into a bottle of Jack Daniels after this latest round of climate chicanery by the government.
• Meanwhile, before the Tories in the House got to their novel pitch for Senate reform, there was the argument about who, exactly, was responsible for the snap vote being called in the first place. The Tory senators say the Liberals called the vote; the Liberals (with some evidence) say the Tories did. All of this would be easy to figure out if the Senate leaped into the ’80s and allowed television cameras in the chamber.
• Things got a bit spicier on Twitter, with the Toronto Star’s Susan Delacourt lamenting that the Liberals seem to be unable to stand up to Harper because they’re engaging in their favourite pastime: fratricidal leaking to reporters. She added, “Given how little is being said in QP about what happened with C-311, I’d suggest that MPs grow something other than moustaches.” Oh, snap.
• And today it looks like the Conservatives are going to go for more theatre in lieu of actual governance. According to Kady O’Malley, Twitter’s indispensable resource for all things parliamentary, John Baird, Harper’s once and future environment minister, is going to respond to any questions about C-311 by calling for a snap vote on Senate reform. When he doesn’t get unanimous support, O’Malley hypothesizes he’ll “stride out to the foyer and condemn the ‘coalition’ for opposing Senate reform.” Because apparently the best way to get out of trouble for calling one snap vote is by trying to call another.
• John Ivison: Harper’s Triple-U Senate: unelected, unrepresentative, under his thumb [National Post]
• It’s tough to be a climate scientist when dinosaurs are making the calls [Victoria Times-Colonist]
• Liberal, Tory senators blame each other for climate bill’s demise [Globe and Mail]
• The Commons: Just laugh it off [Macleans]
• Susan Delacourt [Twitter]
• Kady O’Malley [Twitter]
 Ivison’s 14-year-old nephew plays the voice of reason, which is pretty awesome for 14-year-old politics nerds everywhere, but pretty lame for the Parliament of Canada.
• The Victoria Times-Colonist has a column by Jack Knox, who has interviewed one of Canada’s top climate scientists, Andrew Weaver. Weaver is understandably unimpressed with Harper, but then Harper probably understands that climate scientists aren’t a key voting bloc for him. Weaver jokes about crawling into a bottle of Jack Daniels after this latest round of climate chicanery by the government.
• Meanwhile, before the Tories in the House got to their novel pitch for Senate reform, there was the argument about who, exactly, was responsible for the snap vote being called in the first place. The Tory senators say the Liberals called the vote; the Liberals (with some evidence) say the Tories did. All of this would be easy to figure out if the Senate leaped into the ’80s and allowed television cameras in the chamber.
• Things got a bit spicier on Twitter, with the Toronto Star’s Susan Delacourt lamenting that the Liberals seem to be unable to stand up to Harper because they’re engaging in their favourite pastime: fratricidal leaking to reporters. She added, “Given how little is being said in QP about what happened with C-311, I’d suggest that MPs grow something other than moustaches.” Oh, snap.
• And today it looks like the Conservatives are going to go for more theatre in lieu of actual governance. According to Kady O’Malley, Twitter’s indispensable resource for all things parliamentary, John Baird, Harper’s once and future environment minister, is going to respond to any questions about C-311 by calling for a snap vote on Senate reform. When he doesn’t get unanimous support, O’Malley hypothesizes he’ll “stride out to the foyer and condemn the ‘coalition’ for opposing Senate reform.” Because apparently the best way to get out of trouble for calling one snap vote is by trying to call another.
• John Ivison: Harper’s Triple-U Senate: unelected, unrepresentative, under his thumb [National Post]
• It’s tough to be a climate scientist when dinosaurs are making the calls [Victoria Times-Colonist]
• Liberal, Tory senators blame each other for climate bill’s demise [Globe and Mail]
• The Commons: Just laugh it off [Macleans]
• Susan Delacourt [Twitter]
• Kady O'Malley [Twitter]){kind=link}
Maybe ‘What Canada is saying’?
Not much ‘world’ reaction here.
Bottom line is if Canada decides to burden itself with a bill like this before America does, we will hear, as what Ross Perot said, that “giant sucking sound” of jobs crossing the border