'It's a wakeup call', Baird says

PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL 
DATE: 2007.01.09

'It's a wakeup call,' Baird says. New environment minister draws
parallel between park's devastation, climate change

MARK HUME, VANCOUVER

With much of storm-ravaged Stanley Park lying in ruins behind him and his snow boots sitting unused at home in balmy Ottawa, Canada's newly appointed Environment Minister John Baird said the extreme weather across the country has gotten his government's attention.

So have the voices of concerned Canadians, who fear the unusual winter weather being experienced nationally is just a taste of what global warming has in store.

"We're all concerned about the freak weather we've seen this year in the country," Mr. Baird said in his first official press conference, which was held at a scenic viewpoint in Stanley Park where a December storm cut a swath through the forest.

"You know, in Ottawa . . . I haven't taken my winter boots out this year, most days you don't need a winter coat and that causes a huge amount of concern." Stacks of broken tree trunks lay nearby, and inside the adjacent Prospect Point Cafe, kitchen workers continued to deal with the leaks created when trees blew across the road and hit the restaurant's
roof.

"Frankly, when you see the devastation here, which is the other side of the coin [to Ottawa's mild weather] . . . it's a wakeup call," said Mr. Baird, who took over the environment portfolio from Rona Ambrose last week.

Touring Stanley Park with Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan and other officials, Mr. Baird said the destruction was stunning.

He promised the federal government will help with restoration work, but didn't make any specific funding commitment.

"It's just absolutely devastating," he said after examining some of the estimated 3,000 trees that had been shattered by the force of the storm.

"Urban forests are so important . . . obviously this is one of the crown jewels of the parks in this country and it's quite upsetting to see the damage. . . . And it's just an example of the kind of freak weather that we've had this year in parts of the country.

"This certainly is another reason that we've got to act on climate change."

Mr. Baird didn't announce any new policy, but said his government has identified the problem of climate change as a top priority, reflecting a strong shift in the public mood across the country.

He acknowledged the Conservatives have not done enough to control greenhouse-gas emissions, but sought to share the blame with the Liberals, saying little had been achieved under the previous government.

"I will say Canada's been slow off the mark [but] . . . Stephane Dion was the environment minister, he sat in cabinet for 10 years while this problem got worse, not better. Now we have an opportunity [to do something]."

Just three months ago, the Conservatives came under fire when the government introduced a Clean Air Act that allowed for an overall increase in greenhouse-gas emissions by tying industry to "intensity-based" targets.

Without saying the government will revisit that act, Mr. Baird indicated policy changes are coming.

"Canadians are telling us very loudly and very clearly they want us to do more. And I want to do more. I definitely want to do more," he said.

"We are behind the eight ball in that the starting pistol went off 10 years ago when Kyoto was negotiated. But the challenge for us is to play catch-up.

"I believe, [and] our government believes, that Canadians expect leadership from the federal government and we want to give that. It's got to be a solution that involves not only the federal government, other governments, it will involve every sector of the economy, it will involve every Canadian and we believe that's tremendously important."

Morag Carter, climate-change program director for the David Suzuki Foundation, said the Conservatives have to do more than talk. "We need to see a significant change, not just in rhetoric, and not just in environment ministers, but in terms of action," Ms. Carter said.

"We need to see real movement on the file, and we need to see it now."

At the Stanley Park press conference, Mr. Baird and other officials were dogged by a lone protester, Vancouver retiree Ann Grant, who wore a Stephen Harper mask and carried a model of the globe with a devil's pitchfork through it.

"Don't just give us words. Give us meaningful action," she said, before putting up a banner about global warming and insinuating herself into the picture as the politicians posed for photos.