Liberal's muddled green message brings defeat

The environment was not a winning issue on this campaign trail

It may be some time before we again see a political leader in Canada brave enough to build a campaign platform around saving the environment.

The world economic crisis that may take a few years to fix has something to do with that. But so, too, does the outcome of last night's federal election, which saw the Conservatives returned to power, partly on the back of Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's muddled message on the environment.

Watching closely, no doubt, was B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, who heads into an election of his own in the spring having to defend an unpopular carbon tax he has so far vowed to maintain. Of course, Mr. Dion's much-mocked Green Shift environmental proposal also included a carbon tax, one he never had much success promoting on the campaign trail.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest is also said to be mulling an election call, and he too must be thinking just how hard he wants to push the environment at a time when people seem to be thinking about anything but.

The party that won last night's federal election was the one that barely mentioned the environment, except when it was to disparage the green policies of its opponents, particularly the Liberals. What does that say about where the issue sits in the pecking order of Canadian concerns? It wasn't that long ago the environment topped the list.

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