Poll shows Canadians in the dark about Kyoto

[StoneMtn]

Poll shows Canadians in the dark about Kyoto

Mike De Souza

CanWest News Service

Monday, May 29, 2006

OTTAWA - It may be one of the most politically charged topics of today, but more than two-thirds of Canadians say they know nothing about the international Kyoto agreement on climate change, a new opinion survey has revealed.

Nearly 89 per cent of Canadians have heard about the Kyoto accord, but 68 per cent say they don't know any of the details, according to an Ipsos Reid poll of 1,621 Canadians completed this spring.

''It's a complicated process, and it's a complicated treaty, and it's full of complicated things,'' said Ipsos Reid senior vice-president John Wright. ''I suspect if you stopped people on the street and asked them what it was all about, you would only find a quarter of the adult population knowing much about it.''

Wright said the Conservative government could exploit these numbers to kill the previous government's Kyoto plan.

''The knowledge level of what is in Kyoto is so small that this government, if it plays its cards right, will have some manoeuvrability.''

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose has all but abandoned Canada's Kyoto commitment to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent...

Click here to read the whole article about our ignorance.

[SmoothedShredder]

This is what I would call "Firing at the thick of the crowd" Though I don't imagine many of those who skimp on oil changes, and who are content with Gridlock traffic use CAA... this atleast signals that part of the Government is willing to seriously address the most diseased parts of the Economy.

A poll by John Tory through CAA:

WORKING WITH ONTARIANS TO SOLVE TRAFFIC GRIDLOCK

By John Tory, Leader of the Official Opposition

The statistics are sobering. Ontario’s population, already growing at a record-breaking rate, is expected to grow by another 3.8 million people over the next 30 years. The number of people living in the GTA alone is expected to reach 7.5 million over the same period.

While population growth in and of itself can be a good thing, it places an incredible strain on our infrastructure. These people all have to live somewhere. They all have to work somewhere. They all have to get where they are going. As our large urban centres continue to expand, this influx of people, if not properly accommodated, can only lead to one result: Longer waits in traffic than ever before.

This is the problem of gridlock, a growing crisis that is already paralyzing cities throughout Ontario. According to the CAA’s own research, only 10 per cent of GTA expressways saw bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic during the 1980s; today that percentage has increased to over 70 per cent. While this problem is most acute in the GTA, we are also hearing reports of increased delays and waits in municipalities as far afield as Barrie, Hamilton and Guelph as well as the Waterloo and Niagara Regions.

Drivers are spending more and more time sitting locked in traffic; away from their jobs and away from their families. The impact of all these idling cars on our environment and health can be staggering. The long-term impact on our productivity puts the competitiveness of our economy at risk. Gridlock is a lose-lose situation for everybody. You only need watch a major highway or arterial road during rush hour to see how bad the problem is, and without a change of attitude, things will only get worse.

Commuters are becoming increasingly frustrated, and who can blame them. They are leaving home earlier, getting home later; yet still find themselves falling further and further behind.

Last year our Progressive Conservative Caucus chose to act on the issue of gridlock. We convened a series of town-hall meetings in many of the commuter communities most impacted by gridlock. We consulted widely with experts on the issue, including the CAA, to get a full range of opinions on the best way forward. And we constantly advocated for smarter investments in our province’s infrastructure, believing that it is hard to get traffic moving when government itself is stalled.

We also launched a new web site www.gridlocked.ca where hundreds of drivers have had the opportunity to share their frustrations with the status quo. I invite you to click onto the link to share your ideas to combat gridlock in your community.

Solving this issue will require co-operation. Ad-hoc, piecemeal solutions just will not work.

As bad as the gridlock crisis currently is, the situation will only get worse in the years ahead. This summer our caucus will be holding a further series of town halls and consultations as we look for a long-term solution that works. Having heard so many good ideas, I remain convinced that long term solutions remain available. It is up to all of us to see these good ideas matched with a great effort, and we better act fast. As anybody sitting in traffic would tell you...we have no time to lose.