1. Public cools to global warming. As the climate change talks in Copenhagen appear to be deadlocked with only one day remaining, there are indications that the public is simply not engaged. Dimitri Pantzopoulos of Ottawa-based Praxicus Research (he is a former Conservative Party pollster) says that among Canadians “levels of concern over the environment are on the decline.”
His findings and thoughts are instructive, not only because his research is solid but because of his ties to Stephen Harper's government. Mr. Pantzopoulos would not share his exact numbers with us – his polling on the global warming and climate issue over the past month is for his clients only. Still, he gave us his analysis:
“My takes on the numbers is that attitudes to the environment are unlikely to rebound to previous levels even in the face of an improving economy. The warm front has passed, so to speak,” he says. As well, he repeats the views of the Prime Minister, who arrived today in Copenhagen and says that Canadians want “pragmatic” measures to deal with the environment.
“There has been a change over the past few years from the attitude that ‘we have to do all we can’ to one of ‘let’s do things that make sense.’,” he says. “This means people will place the environment in their calculus when they buy things, but they will not dramatically alter their lifestyle. It also means that these ideas of wealth transfers to developing countries will not be well-received.”
Interesting “takes,” given that the debate at Copenhagen now is how – or how much – developed countries will help out developing countries.
And a recent Angus Reid Global Monitor poll that shows that fewer Americans - 44 per cent compared to 51 per cent in July – believe that global warming is caused by vehicle emissions and industry. This compares to 22 per cent of Americans who believe “global warming is happening but mostly caused by natural changes,” says the report. That is up two percentage points from November and up 5 percentage points from last July. The poll of 1,001 Americans was conducted between December 8 and 9. The margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
2. Rocco Rossi for mayor. “As my father taught me, ‘the difficult choices are never the ones between good and bad – any idiot can make that choice. The difficult choices are the ones between good and good.’ And so I found myself confronted by one of those choices – continuing to work behind the scenes for a party and Leader I have deep affection for or putting my name forward and serving the public more directly in elected office,” Mr. Rossi writes.
And so begins his bid for Toronto mayor. Mr. Rossi was the national director of the Liberal Party of Canada – handpicked by leader Michael Ignatieff. He is closely tied to the Toronto gang, which was around Mr. Ignatieff and who have since left (“got quit?”). Mr. Rossi’s note, sent Tuesday, to supporters and friends, angered some Liberals as it was sent out on his party email account. That’s a no-no. And Mr. Rossi has apologized for it, according to The Toronto Star, blaming it on his own “technical incompetence.”
As well, there is a rumour that Liberal staffers were told by new chief of staff Peter Donolo that they were not to get involved in the Toronto mayor’s race.
Some Liberals, meanwhile, are not surprised that Mr. Rossi’s stay in Ottawa was very short (less than a year). That’s because he is a one-man show and not a team player who seeks the background. Rather, his story is one of individual achievement – in academia, in business and in fundraising (he did well for the Liberal Party and for the Heart and Stroke Foundation). He likes the spotlight – biking the length of Yonge Street to raise money, solo-kayaking along the Rideau Canal to raise money or climbing the stairs in downtown Toronto office towers to raise money.
“It will be a long campaign and, as a non-professional politician, I start with a huge disadvantage with respect to name recognition vs formidable opponents, but I am undaunted,” he writes in the email. “I know at the end of the campaign, it won’t be ‘Rocco Who?’ because I will have answered ‘Rocco Why? What? How? And When?’”
Interestingly, he ran John Tory’s unsuccessful mayoralty bid in 2003. This time around he will likely be running against him. No speculation yet as to who Mr. Ignatieff will bring in to replace him. Bets are it won’t be another Torontonian.
(Photo: Stephen Harper arrives in Copenhagen today. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
