It's the Environment, stupid

I have decided that most of the stuff that I had to say about the convention have either a) already been said by people who get paid to say it and b) aren't really all that interesting. Maybe I will dish a little about what a pot-head Justin Trudeau is later.

Stephane Dion is half French. I don't care, and neither should you. Turner was half-English and it was considered traditional and interesting. Sorry, I meant to say that both are also citizens of other countries. I think multi-culturalism and multi-nationalism go hand in hand, no?

Stephane Dion has totally screwed the Green Party, and has probably screwed the NDP because of his long standing legitimacy on the Environment file.

Friday, the Government announced his plan on the categorization response - the re-assessment of 23,000 toxic substances that were 'in commerce' at the time of the first CEPA review in 1993-96. The correct response should have been - what took so long? We were going to do this before you ruined our perfect little government. Dion also has the advantage of making fun of the government for what is on the list - for example - How is Vitamin A PBiT?

That is the real advantage he has- he has hands on experience with almost every regulatory file the government has. Why? He sat on EVERY cabinet committee because he was that smart. The current gang of swash-bucklers (get it?) aren't. Maybe Harper and Prentice are, but they haven't been doing this since 1996- at least not from inside the room.

He is very much like Gore- who is the only credible politician in the US on environmental issues as far as I am concerned. And that is where the battle will be faught- at some point in the very near future the US polis is going to get "on side" on this issue. Popular opinion changes on a dime in the US once it reaches the tipping point- and then it is like a waterfall. Climate change is the next issue to get to that tipping point now that even the President is aware of the abismal failure in Iraq.

Gore is on the correct side of the tipping arguement, like Kennedy was on the correct side of civil rights. Dion is standing alongside him.

But is he electable? God, how do we even measure that these days? I suppose it depends on who is he going to be running against and where? I don't think that in any of the seats that are in play in 2007 the question on the ballot is going to be "Do you trust Stephane?" I think the question on the ballot will be "What best represents your values?"

On the East Coast, the Liberals are probably going to lose at least two seats anyway - Binns and Lord will win their seats. The rest? God only knows - but it should be known that Dion did not have that many eastern delegates.

In Quebec, this is going to be an issue- but when compared to Harper and Duceppe, Dion fares pretty well actually. Plus, who better to deal with Premier (shudder) Boisclair?

In Ontario- don't count out the "cracker assed cracker" view of not supporting someone who doesn't speak English, but I can't imagine the Liberals losing any seats. I am not sure how that would be possible given that the two SAFEST seats in Ontario are already Tory (Ottawa Orleans and Glengary Prescott Boudria) and the NDP's pick-ups are really not their seats to begin with. Can we have them back please? Thank you.

In the prairies, Liberals are actually listed under SARA

BC - where time and time again the most important issue is the environment. 36 seats, with 11 New Democrats and 17 Tories (ten of whom are as safe as could possibly be). 18 seats in play. Let the fun begin.