New Liberal Party Leader

To get a sense of how apolitical I am when it comes to just about anything except American presidential races, I'd never even heard of Stephane Dion before this afternoon. I know I should've; but I hadn't. And here we are, half a day later, and I'm reading that he's now the leader of the Liberal party. Since the federal elections in this country are always two horse races, this means he's got a very good chance of being the Canadian Prime Minister sometime in the next several years. I'm sure he'll now be in the news a lot more, and I'll get a better feel for what he does and doesn't stand for, but right now he's a blank slate to me.

I did hear lots of chatter, during the coverage of the leadership convention that I watched today, that the Liberals plan to make Climate Change a key platform issue in the next election. You'd think that, if we Canadians really wanted to put someone in power who might actually do something significant about what's likely to be the environmental issue for the next several decades, then we'd all vote Green Party next time! I suppose the concern will be that, in doing so, sure, we'd get some radical pro-Earth changes made, but the economy would collapse and taxes would go through the roof in the process. Certainly that's how our neighbours to the south seem to be wired these days: more concerned with losing American jobs if auto emissions are reduced than they are about having the planet undergo drastic changes such that millions are killed or displaced. I'd find that sort of mentality perplexing if I didn't know so many smokers, for example, who can lead existences entirely based on denial, as they slowly kill themselves, and those they love, rather than kick a habit they know to be unhealthy.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to me to see what, if anything, comes of this topic within the Liberal faithful. At the very least, maybe they'll be talking about something other than Quebec separation, taxes and the lumber trade for a change!