Ottawa

Thomas Mulcair, mostly undaunted

In interviews with the Globe and West Block, Thomas Mulcair expressed regret for his “messengers” remark about the Western premiers, but otherwise dug in.

… this is a fight that we’ve been looking for. We see this as a defining element of the next election campaign in Canada. We are leaving a less diversified economy by the choices. The very fact of the matter is, is the Conservatives are failing to enforce legislation that exists now. Polluter pay is a basic principle that all Canadians can agree upon. That’s the base of the problem. Right now we’re not enforcing several statutes federally; the Fisheries Act, the Migratory Birds Act, the Navigable Waters Act, these are all things that should be included in the real costs of the oil sands. Instead, the federal government is failing. Stephen Harper’s government is failing to enforce that legislation. Polluter pay is the base of this whole debate.

For those of you keeping track of trends in alliteration, note that Dutch disease is out and polluter pay is in.

So far as the former is concerned, Stephen Gordon and Livio Di Matteo consider the economics. Brian Topp considers the politics of raw resources.

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