Kitchener-Waterloo NDP

Letter to the Editor from The Record (http://news.therecord.com/article/380125)
July 9, 2008
Re: Kyoto-plus legislation (SEE VIDEO>> http://www.ndp.ca/page/6487#video )

Canada has freedom of the press -- but for only those who own national newspapers. And the owners of those presses wield immeasurable power over how the issues of the day are framed and debated.

Case in point: there was virtually no media coverage when federal NDP Leader Jack Layton's Kyoto -plus bill recently passed into law -- making it the world's first law in the post-Kyoto era to enshrine aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets and timelines for the medium and long terms.

For the NDP leader, who is no friend of multinational corporations that own newspapers, his law requires the government of Canada to set absolute targets of 25 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050. And more important, the reductions are based on the internationally-recognized 1990 base year.

Although the Kyoto-plus bill passed in early June, I'll bet most readers of this paper did not even know the NDP leader had succeeded in stick-handling such a precedent-setting reform through this minority Parliament.

Instead, the editorial decision makers believe you need to read almost daily about a promise from the Liberal leader. This promise -- which Liberals rarely deliver on -- promises to act on the environment by taxing carbon. It's only a promise to act from the St?phane Dion who allowed carbon emissions to rise by 30 per cent when he was environment minister in the most recent Liberal government.

Meanwhile, Layton actually drives a global parliamentary precedent -- and the media responds with not a peep.

I don't believe in conspiracy theories, but an explanation is warranted.

Max Lombardi
NDP candidate for the federal riding of Cambridge
Cambridge

To contact Max by e-mail: maxlombardi@ndp.ca
by telephone/fax or voice mail: 519-620-2888
LEARN MORE: http://www.ndp.ca