Sask. Party must recognize climate change concerns
...Evidence suggests Saskatchewan’s citizens are far ahead of their government...
There’s little doubt that 2017 will be seen as a year of change and transition in Saskatchewan politics.
After coasting through three provincial elections, Brad Wall lost touch with the populace to the point where he couldn’t continue as his party’s leader anymore. And while provincewide protests against a budget laden with austerity for people and giveaways for corporations offered some evidence of a shift in the public mood, it was two byelection results in Saskatoon that confirmed the collapse of the Saskatchewan Party’s past voting coalition.
The NDP’s byelection wins can be explained in part by the public’s response to the budget. But there’s another key take-away to be drawn from the result.
In both the Saskatoon Meewasin race won by Ryan Meili and the Saskatoon Fairview campaign won by Vicki Mowat, the Saskatchewan Party’s message centred on its opposition to any carbon tax. And whatever that plan’s faults as a matter of policy, it was at least topical in response to the federal government’s plan to apply a carbon tax in any province negligent enough to lack a climate-change plan of its own.
By any reasonable evaluation, though, the concept of running against a carbon tax was an abject failure. Instead of serving to retain support or at least distract critics, the Saskatchewan Party’s anti-environment campaign saw it lose 20 and then 30 points relative to the NDP.
We should then have expected the Saskatchewan Party to reconsider whether climate denial was a remotely viable political strategy. And a leadership campaign seemingly offered an ideal opportunity for somebody to shift away from the party’s past talking points.
So far, none of the party’s leadership contestants have deviated from the party’s tired talking points. But if the byelection results weren’t enough for many observers to notice that climate obstruction is a political loser, a recent poll from Abacus Data should eliminate any room for doubt.
Abacus’ poll found a slightly lower level of public support for climate action in Saskatchewan and Alberta than elsewhere across Canada — a predictable result given how the terms of our political debate have been set by the oil industry. But Abacus’ regional results nonetheless showed overwhelming disagreement with any excuse for climate inaction.
Instead of accepting that morality has nothing to do with our environmental policies, 87 per cent of Alberta-Saskatchewan respondents agreed with the statement that we have a moral responsibility to future generations.
Instead of buying the rhetoric that action to cut greenhouse gas emissions is futile, 79 per cent of Prairie respondents recognized that we have the capacity to cut emissions when we try.
Instead of accepting a dichotomy between the economy and the environment, 71 per cent of Alberta-Saskatchewan residents recognized that the fight against climate change would create economic opportunities.
And instead of acceding to the talking point that there’s no real cost to inaction, 66 per cent of Alberta and Saskatchewan respondents agreed that we face a catastrophe if we fail to do more to combat climate change.
So far, the strong public consensus that cutting greenhouse gas emissions is both necessary and feasible hasn’t stopped the Saskatchewan Party from continuing to look for delay tactics and excuses. And it remains to be seen whether that will change when Environment Minister Dustin Duncan unveils a plan aimed at fending off the federal carbon tax system.
But all evidence suggests Saskatchewan’s citizens are far ahead of their government in demanding action to fight climate change. And if the Saskatchewan Party keeps pretending otherwise to appease its more extreme elements, this year’s byelections may be a portent of electoral results to come.
Greg Fingas is a Regina lawyer, blogger and freelance political commentator who has written about provincial and national issues from a progressive NDP perspective since 2005.