Union leader and Liberal premier oppose Conservative pollution controls

We have now officially entered the twilight zone. Union leader Buzz Hargrove opposes the Conservatives' plan to enforce emissions controls because it will hurt the auto industry. And Ontario Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty plays the national divisiveness card on top of that, portraying Ontario and its auto industry as a victim of the nasty feds. Meanwhile the Conservatives are cheerfully assuring them both that they fully intend to hit the oil and gas industry equally hard.

Are you confused yet? Did you think some gremlin had been switching labels in the news reports? No, you read right. The left wing is attacking the right wing for being too hard on industry and wanting to enact environmental controls.

I was strongly tempted to think that the commitment of the left wing to environmental issues was really just a stick to beat conservatives with and that they had no intention of ever actually DOING anything about it, an impression that was greatly fortified by Paul Martin's shameful and hypocritical finger-wagging at the Americans in the last election. (It was at that moment he lost me completely. Anybody with the slightest interest in the environment knew that the Americans were doing better than us.) Now it has been confirmed. As soon as the Conservatives make a move to pick up that stick themselves, the left wing immediately switches camps. Or at least some of them do.

It was all about politics, not policy.

I certainly hope that the Rona Ambrose's environmental policy will not just contribute to global warming through another mass emission of hot air, but will actually accomplish something. I am one of those quaint people that believes good policy is good politics. If I'm lucky, the Conservatives will be equally quaint.

All of this illustrates how flexible the labels right and left wing are. Which cause belongs to which camp shifts with the political winds. (Remember when supporting Israel was a hard-core left-wing thing to do?) And all the more reason to vote according to your core beliefs, not according to political labels.

Note to Dalton McGuinty: they still sell cars just fine in California. You are seriously eroding your credibility with this mock indignation. We recognize political opportunism when we see it.

Technorati tags: Rona Ambrose, Buzz Hargrove, Dalton McGuinty