Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty yesterday announced that the Ontario government will protect half of the province’s boreal forest from mining and development. It’s a move that will safeguard the world’s largest “carbon sink”, i.e. a huge natural preserve that ‘eats“ the CO2 produced by burning carbon-based fuels. It also will help preserve a way of life for Northern Ontarians, including aboriginals. Aside from the fact that the final boundaries of the preserve are still be determined, it’s hard to imagine any political party could find a reason to oppose the government’s initiative.
But Gilles Bison, already campaigning to be the next leader of the Ontario NDP did just that, protesting that the government is killing jobs and destroying communities. Who was wondering why the NDP can’t can’t get any traction with an increasingly green-leaning electorate? Will Jack Layton disassociate the federal NDP from its Ontario cousin or continue put the minimal potential of additional union (and NDP dues-paying) jobs ahead of the public interest?
