National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy

After the National Roundtable released its report on January 7, 2008—see yesterday’s post—John Baird met with reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons to respond. Here is a transcript of that news conference, emphasis mine.

Talking to the House this weekend, Peter Kent discussed the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy and carbon pricing (emphasis mine).

On its way out of town—clause 183 of the budget bill eliminates it—the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy releases one last report.

The former Conservative MP has concerns about the Harper government’s environmental policies.

Pressed this afternoon to explain John Baird’s linking of the National Roundtable’s demise to its support for a carbon tax, Environment Minister Peter Kent seemed to distance himself from Mr. Baird’s comments.

Or perhaps the minister misspoke…

Cabinet ministers could be easily and cheaply replaced with some combination of Wikipedia, Twitter and Pinterest

The opposition frets that budget cuts target important sources of information, including the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy. Environment Minister Peter Kent is apparently unconcerned.

Mr. Speaker, our government appreciates and has thanked the round table for its service over the years for any number of reports addressing environmental issues. However, the reality is that the round table was created a quarter of a century ago. It was created before the Internet, when there were few such sources of domestic, independent research and analysis on sustainable development. That is simply no longer the case. There are now any number of organizations and university based services that provide those services.

The Scene. In the 15 minutes between 2 o’clock and the start of Question Period, three different Conservatives were sent up to demonstrate their loyalty to the cause.