David Suzuki - Federal budget long on politics, short on vision

[Hux]

Federal budget long on politics, short on vision

By DAVID SUZUKI

Well, you’ve got to give Stephen Harper this much – he’s a great politician. His budget, delivered recently by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, masterfully doled out the right goodies to the right people at the right time.

In other words, it was an election budget; one that practically screamed “Love me!â€

Mr. Harper knows that winning a majority in the next election means he needs to be more likeable and appear more moderate. This budget was his way of proving to Canadians, particularly people in Ontario and Quebec, that he’s really a nice guy.

Mr. Flaherty’s speech, which described Canada from “the majestic Rockies†to Newfoundland, managed to exclude an entire province from the dominion, but he’s not courting the West anymore.

Geographic blunders aside, the budget was a solid piece of political posturing. But will it be good for Canada and Canadians?

My take is that when you attempt to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one. Like a formulaic Hollywood romantic comedy, this budget comes across as trite, but relatively inoffensive. Blink twice and you forget about it.

Of course, that can be a serious problem if the country is looking for leadership. And in talking to Canadians, that’s what I keep hearing. They want the direction to charge ahead and really change some of the things that are bothering them. Right now that number one thing is the environment.

According to a recent report, Canada ranks a dismal 29 out of 30 industrialized countries in terms of environmental protection. This is a black eye for Canadians who see themselves as environmental leaders.

In fact, Prime Minister Harper has frequently trotted out that statistic to castigate the previous Liberal governments for inaction on the environment.

Last fall, Canada’s independent commissioner on the environment, Johanne Gelinas, also pointed out that Canada has fallen behind, and really needs a major retooling of how the country deals with environmental challenges. Her report called for a “massive scale-up†in our efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

And that’s where this budget fails. There’s no plan, no real acknowledgement of Canadians’ No. 1 concern, no indication of a massive scale up – merely a series of largely unrelated projects, most of which already existed under the previous government, only to be scrapped by Mr. Harper. Now they’re back, repackaged like laundry detergent with “new!†splashed across the box.

One of the few really new environmental initiatives is the feebate program for new vehicles. Under the feebate system, vehicles that are heavy polluters (like big SUVs) are charged a levy, while those that have a smaller environmental footprint receive a rebate. It’s one way to encourage drivers to choose more efficient vehicles that will help reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Really, it’s a very modest form of carbon tax, though Mr. Harper would be loathe to admit it.

Unfortunately, on its own, the feebate system won’t amount to much. A more effective way to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases from cars would be to phase-in an across-the-board carbon tax, or institute strict new fuel efficiency requirements for all vehicles, as California has done.

But the kind of leadership we’re seeing in California, complete with legislated targets and timelines to reduce pollution, is seriously lacking here.

Far from being the massive scale-up called for by the environment commissioner, there’s very little in this budget that will reduce emissions at all. There’s still no plan, no direction and little in the way of vision.

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[SmoothedShredder]

My take is that when you attempt to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one.

So true. I wonder who the first leader will be who will crack the whip on the population, and get us all in line in terms of our energy consumption?

[color:purple]My bet is Dion