Harper is a pragmatist above all.

The current strategy makes sense, look worried about climate change, nod head solemnly from time to time, but don't sign anything or make any commitments.

When your partys popularity is at the very upper reaches of it's support when it polls at 40% you tread softly around issues that are of concern to the least informed voters.

Amen Gord. I get somewhat frustrated when people say that the Harper government isn't conservative enough etc.

The point is - we have a Conservative government, and I would like to keep it.

"The anti-establishment people have in the meantime become insiders and will be sitting in the main hall."

It's happening all over on so many levels of government. The people who hate working people and hate the government seem to be running things all too often.

Here's the challenge for all the Warmists & Enviro Jihadis. In order to fall in line with the Copenhagen/COP15 agreement Canada needs to cut 150,000 Mt of carbon emissions from our annual level.

The table below list the major carbon emission sources. So your task is to choose which areas of the Canadian economy to devastate . . . but you total cuts needs to add up to 150,000 Mt.

After you have figured out what parts of the economy need to go bye-bye, then address the COP 15 para 41 requirement . . . you know the one where it says Canada needs to start paying an annual amount equal to a minimum of 0.7% of our GDP for our "Climate Debt".

0.7% is about $9 billion dollars annually . . . so what are you going to cut out of the current Federal budget to free up $9+ billion annually ?

I'd cut Equalization payments to Provinces - but you-know-who would go ballistic because although they deny they are net recipients of Canadian largesse, they would whine like stuck pigs if their entitlement to the entitlement was cut off.

Electric/heat generation 126 000
Fossil Fuel Industries 70,000
Mining & Gas 23,000
Residential 40,000
Automobile 41, 000
Light Gas trucks 45, 000
Heavy Gas Trucks 6,640
Heavy Diesel Trucks 40,100
Railways 7,000
Off Road Diesel 25,000
Off Road Gas 6,7000
Domestic Aviation 7, 804
Metal Production 13, 800

Have funds kiddies, cut away. Canada must be a good little Climate weenie boy scout and go along to get along.

My solution . . . take every car & truck off our roads, stop every train, ground every plane and tie up every ship.

That will meet the required target ans shouldn't have too much of an impact on our economy.

Should it ?

Erik and Gord are both right. As galling as it is, Harper can not be as honest about the fraud as Klaus is, as the loony left wealth re-distributors will jump all over him. I am hoping that this deduction is correct and he is not pulling a "progressive" Conservative scam on us.

By the way, when I see products that are now advertising themselves as green, just to sell their stuff, I deliberately avoid them.

Sometimes people need a jolt of reality. As an "experiment", every provider of fossil fuel energy in the nation (pipelines, refineries, power plants, gas stations, etc.) should cut back their supplies to levels that would be required to meet the stupid levels demanded by the watermelons. Leave it like that for a week or so. That might shock some people back to the real world.

"Harper can not be as honest about the fraud as Klaus is, as the loony left wealth re-distributors will jump all over him"

... I can't believe I just read that ... poor little Steve, can't handle the big mean lefties.

Have my fellow cons not noticed the myriad of anti-AGW opeds in major media, have they not noticed that in the polls Canadians are not anywhere on the AGW bandwagon? Do they not read the comments secions in all the major media? It his the CPC who are now behind the curve.

Being conservative or not has nothing to do with this by the way ... it's about being honest and not a political hack and showing leadership and vision. So far the leadership and vision has simply resulted in the CPC moving ever further to the left. Were a Liberal PM to behave as our leader does, you same people would be screaming blue murder and calling him out for his hackery and dishonesty.

Just remember that when/if the Liberals ever win again.

Frankly, I'm still shocked at what so many of my fellow cons have become. What? Are we now the new relativists?

Just remember that when/if the Liberals ever win again.

They don't need to. The New ConsLiberal Party is already in power. All it needs is ratification of the 77 and it's a done deal.

Vendue!

Nothing will get done at Copenhagen other than throwing money down the tube, again, and scheduling another meeting. I think Canada will do the right thing.

Cjunk. Politics is a chess game not Aussie Rules Football. As long as there is a minority government the Conservatives have to tread fairly lightly. Once they get the majority they can do as they see fit. To act ham handed now and have the press all over them would just put the Liberals back in power. Just look at the trouble caused by simple "arts cuts". Christ, Avi Lewis can't go to Paris for a couple months and the press acts like we are rounding up and jailing all the poets in Montreal.

Gord: So the Stephen Harper hidden agenda isn't a fantasy then? Are you suggesting he's hiding his true intentions in order to trick Canadians into a majority win?

Cjunk. That's just stupid. What are you 12? I'm not going to waste time trying to explain anything to you.

Troll.

"a few good men" out of the stevie harpoon administration? HA !

why the the right wing insist on defending the leader regardless of their leadership qualities? or lack thereof?

Cjunk:

Politics is the art of the possible. It is also about minimizing risks and picking your spots. Copenhagen is doomed. The AGW lobby is in the process of self-destructing. Why would the CP expose itself by attacking it?

"Secret agenda" is a loaded term. Are there things that the PM and his party would like to do that aren't politically doable today? Absolutely. But there also dozens of things that can be done now that would be lost if the CP tried to implement the undoable things today.

Stridency when in power is a recipe to wind up out of power.

What praytell would you do differently that would also not lead to a liberal PM in short order?

Don Martin had a piece in yesterday's National Post, 'Prentice invites climate critics to 'bring it on'. Must be reading sda.

Let's all take a deep breath here. Cjunk, you've got people like george the curious siding with you!
That's a bad sign, and I don't think Harper is being dishonest or disingenuous here, he's playing politics the way it has to be played and he's damn good at it. As a Catholic I could insist that he outlaws abortion tomorrow, but he'd be out on his ear in weeks were he to do so.

The article Eileen references:

http://tinyurl.com/ygq4w5w

Looks like Prentice has grown a pair.

Gord Tulk: I expect Harper to offer balanced leadership and guidance ... to at least acknowledge that there is not a consensus. His fellow travellers in Australia are doing so, and in the process turning a balance of the Australian population against Rudd. He doesn't have to be a Klaus, but for Pete's Sake, he can be honest and express some concern that there is not a consensus and that Canada should move cautiously. He has no problem being forceful on Iran and Israel ... so why not offer balance in this case.

In this case, he even has a significant number of media on his side and a balance of the Canadian people.

I'm not suggesting strident partisan preaching ... just the stoic words and leadership of statesman.

Curious so which is the good leader, the guy with 40%, the guy with 26% or the other guys with less?

"Well, if the price of having strong, capable, tough negotiators at the table is being singled out and given ‘fossil of the year' awards, then so be it. Bring it on," Mr. Prentice told me, doing his best impression of not being a boy scout.

... now that's more like it.

BTW, thanks for the tip Eileen and ∞².

Does anyone really believe Harper has changed is mind?

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/01/30/harper-kyoto.html

Text of that letter?

http://markholland.ca/news/2007/070130kyoto.htm

That's ∞² cjunk ... don't dis infinity.

Cjunk, I hope you are not drinking the GW koolaid. The scam artists behind this socialist money theft are all hiding right now, notice how they keep their pie holes shut when the media starts to ASK a few questions about the so called science around this fraudulent bull...t. Heard a thing from Suzookie lately? The whole hoax is falling apart by the hour, Dr. Evil over in Beighing has been sending out orders to get Boob in quick, not working, the federal teat sucking royal family of Canada is having coniptions not having a Turdeau/Mulroney/Turner/Cretin/Martin confidant in office, sad to see these lieberals having such a hard time since their brown bag pipeline dried up. Have the Conservatives had a HRDC/Grand Mere/LG Registry/Adscam etc. etc yet? NO. Thank god for the Chech president, grow a set Steve, shut these scam artists up now.

Errr ... make that Cjunk.

Fred, brilliant post!!!

It would be interesting to know your sources for the data. It would be nice to "nail" this with indisputable facts.

Good on you for advancing the discussion.

Meanwhile over in Venezuela, not a bit of concern expressed by our green friends. With cap n' trade and Copenhagen we will likely finance this work...
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14382525

PMSH is just borrowing from the advice Turdeau gave to Castro when his Cuban comrade spoke of opening up the country to free market reform, 'Ahhh Fidel, you must go slow', but in a good way.

Hopenchangen!

(via RickB @Martin's column)

The people who had never believed in human freedom, in impersonal forces of the market and other forms of human interaction and in the spontaneity of social development and who had always wanted to control, regulate and mastermind us have been searching for a persuasive argument that would justify these ambitions of theirs.

Have never read a more concise nor profound description of what motivates climate alarmists. Klaus has small g god status in my book.

Which keyboard combination does that, Infinity? That's pretty cool even if not many know what the symbol represents. Pi, Alpha, Omega would be other nifty ones.

RE: Sticking with PM Harper.

I read this somewhere (don't recall exactly where) and tend to agree...

Always support and vote for the most Conservative politician because once in office they all drift left.

RE: Copenhagen....
The carbon market takes money, it does not make money. Seems all governments are broke and need money and some companys like GE, Siemans, Bombardier etc. etc. etc. are more than willing to help them "take" it too.

Commodities like softwood and oil in sand are not worth much of anything dollar wise until there is a human added value and they are made into useful products. Not developing these commodities will never make money and, in the meantime, technology might make certain products obsolete or not competitive. Opportunitys for Canadians and Americans, will be "gambled and lost like summer wages" at the Climate Change Copenhagen Summit. (h/t Ian Tyson for Summer Wages.)

Canada and the US voters must eventually shut down this carbon scam or pay the price. The sooner the better but it is not looking hopeful. I would guess that Pres. Obama and other politicians are supported by the NY and Chicago and London bankers and traders, many of whom endorse a derivative based "Carbon Market".

"It would be interesting to know your sources for the data. It would be nice to "nail" this with indisputable facts."

These are facts.

Government of Canada and the UN Climate Control website (UNFCCC).

PiperPaul, It's easier to do a cut and paste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_XML_and_HTML_character_entity_references

BTW: Pi sucks.

Vaclav Klause for "climate czar" of the planet!! If only Obama would give Mr. Klause a "shout out" this would be a done deal.

Might as well hide behind Vaclav.

Prentice the Dim is bringing in a green shift, and y'all partisan shmoes love him for it.

Bend over and smile, because, here comes Prentice's carbon tax......

The point is - we have a Conservative government, and I would like to keep it.
Posted by: Erik Larsen at November 6, 2009 8:21 PM

Wrong Erik.

You have a private organization under the umbrage of being a 'political party' - that has access to the national treasury.

Aside from building roads and keeping terrorists at bay, they also reward bagmen, loyalists, and all other assorted bootlickers and sycophants that can't make a living in the private sector.

Whether they are called Librano or Con, you've bought the same pile of bullsh*t.

Curious so which is the good leader, the guy with 40%, the guy with 26% or the other guys with less?
Posted by: Speedy at November 6, 2009 9:58 PM "

speedy: my answer is stuck in filterland.

probably something to do with my speculating on what makes for a 'ldafetr' if you know what it unscrambles to.