Canadians who care about the environment should vote for any party but the Conservatives, say Greenpeace and the Sierra Club of Canada.
The two environmental groups held a press conference in Ottawa Tuesday, weighing into the political arena that most other environmentalists have avoided this election campaign.
“If you look at the record of the four other political parties – the NDP, the Greens, the Liberals and the Bloc [Québécois] – they're all substantially better than the positions of the Conservatives,” said Stephen Hazell, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada.
“Certainly all four of the other political parties and their leaders have shown they are serious about tackling climate change in a way that, frankly, the Conservatives have not demonstrated.”
Mr. Hazell was joined by Bruce Cox, the executive director of Greenpeace Canada. Both environmentalists focused on the fact that only the Conservatives have not made a commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions to at least 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. The Conservatives have promised a 20-per-cent cut by that date, but use 2006 as their baseline.
The Conservative target works out to 3 per cent below 1990 levels.
“For this reason alone, the Conservatives have not earned the trust or the vote of Canadians,” Mr. Cox said.
Mr. Hazell explained that Sierra Club and Greenpeace can speak about politics because they are not charities.
“The environmental community is, I think, united,” Mr. Hazell said.
“Some of the other groups are charities, and partisan political activity is expressly forbidden by Canada Revenue Agency.”
Environment Minister John Baird said the comments from the two environmentalists aren't surprising given that Mr. Cox once worked for the NDP and Mr. Hazell took over his current job from Elizabeth May after she joined the Green Party.
“I don't say that to undermine their credibility, it's just that these guys have a horse in the race,” he said. As for why his government did not commit to more stringent targets for 2020, Mr. Baird said the Conservatives are aiming for goals that can be achieved.
“You've got to be realistic,” he said. “Ours are achievable, and in these tough economic times, even [Liberal Leader] Stéphane Dion isn't telling people how he would get to his target.”
The environmentalists said their advice to voters is non-partisan in spite of their personal connections to party leaders running for the Oct. 14 federal election.
In 2004, Mr. Cox was the director for the NDP's first campaign with Jack Layton as party leader. Shortly after that election, Mr. Cox took up a new position with Greenpeace.
Mr. Hazell took over as executive director of the Sierra Club after Ms. May left to become leader of the Green Party.
Ms. May has said the fear among environmentalists of losing government contracts or charitable status for speaking out about party platforms is a main reason she left the movement to become a politician.
“We are a non-partisan organization,” Mr. Hazell said. “Historically, we've been associated with the Liberal Party. And of course, my predecessor, Elizabeth May, is now leader of the Green Party. But we are not Liberals; we are not Greens. We are non-partisan.”
There has been some grumbling in Liberal circles at the environmental movement's silence during this campaign, particularly since the Liberal Green Shift plan is based in part on the advice of environmentalists who wanted Canada to put a price on carbon emissions.
In the press conference, Mr. Hazell spoke positively of the Liberal plan.
“We think they're basically on the right track,” he said. “That's the way to a green economy.”
