Canada is ‘more frank’ on climate change than other countries: Harper
by Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press
Harper noted that Canada has done more to lower carbon emissions in its electricity sector than the U.S.
OTTAWA—There’s not a single country in the world that would take action on climate change at the expense of its own economy, said Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he met with Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott on June 9.
Canada wants to deal with climate change without crippling the economy, he said.
“No country is going to undertake actions on climate change, no matter what they say … that is going to deliberately destroy jobs and growth in their country,” he said.
“We are just a little more frank about that, but that is the approach that every country is seeking.”
Harper noted that Canada has actually done more to lower carbon emissions in its electricity sector than the U.S.
“The measures outlined by President Obama, as important as they are, do not go nearly as far in the electricity sector as the actions Canada has already taken ahead of the United States in that particular sector,” he said.
For his part, Abbott made clear that while his government recognizes the issue, it does not consider tackling climate change a top priority.
“We think that climate change is a significant problem. It’s not the only or even the most important that the world faces, but it is a significant problem,” he said.
“It’s important that every country should take the action that it thinks is best to reduce emissions, because we should rest lightly on the planet.”
Still, Abbott told a business roundtable later in the day that, much like the Harper Conservatives have done, he will take further actions to reduce the “regulatory burden” that often gets in the way of job creation, and pointed to the number of environmental hurdles that have been overcome for Australian business by his government over the past nine months.
Abbott has carried an ‘open for business under new management’ sign for Australia ever since being elected to power last September, and has also made no secret of his political “bromance” with the Harper Conservatives.
Paying homage to Harper’s newfound role as the elder statesman among conservative-minded world leaders, Abbott bowed to a man he called an “exemplar of centre-right leadership.”
Later, Abbott made a point of stressing the commonality between Australia and Canada to encourage Canadian business investment in Australia, if for no other reason than the two countries share similar judicial and government systems.
“We speak the same language in every sense, Abbott told his audience.
