Environment Portfolio Will Suffer Under Baird, Say Critics

Activists warn that the appointment to the environment ministry of an MP who already holds another ministerial portfolio could mean green issues get pushed to the backburner.

Stephen Harper appointed John Baird as interim environment minister after Jim Prentice announced on Nov. 4 he was leaving the post to take a job at CIBC. But Canadian environmental group the Pembina Institute is leading a chorus of activists who say the fact that Baird is already House speaker and is only in the environment position temporarily proves that Harper is largely unconcerned about the environment and little work will get done on the file anytime soon. Baird was environment minister once before, from January 2007 to October 2008, and was responsible for the “Turning the Corner” plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plan ignored the Kyoto Protocol targets and was widely criticized as ineffective.