One of the unmistakable signs of poor public policy stewardship and incompetent management is being penny wise and pound-foolish. The latest example is the shuttering of the National Roundtable on Environment and the Economy (NRTEE).
With a miniscule operating budget of $5.5 million, the NRTEE’s tremendous impact has far surpassed its annual appropriation. The NRTEE has been a high-performance, high-value organization that punched far above its weight and the resources assigned to it.
Sadly, this government has never valued — or welcomed — independent and rigorous fact-based analysis and advice. In fact, it has treated those with the temerity to try with open and visceral contempt.
Created in 1988 by Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, he understood that a growing and prospering economy and environmental sustainability are inseparable ideas. Far from being mutually exclusive, a vigorous economy and environmental sustainability are inextricably linked.
Canada played a leading role in the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. Mulroney, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin recognized the necessity of bringing together business and environmental stakeholders to provide non-partisan and evidence-based research and advice to policy-makers.
Indeed, that was its core purpose. The NRTEE’s mission was to bring “leadership in the new way we must think of the relationship between the environment and the economy and the new way we must act.” For more than two decades, the NRTEE became a critical and dispassionate bridge between what on the surface appears to be competing and irreconcilable interests. They showed that in the development of sensible public policy, interests are never irreconcilable, particularly when there is a genuine desire and commitment to forge a reasonable accommodation. This approach is vital to driving a forward-looking agenda in the national interest.
At a time when those interests have been under intense pressure and increasingly polarized, the NRTEE has attempted to be a consensus-builder. It assembled private and public sector and NGO experts with first-hand knowledge in a diversity of areas — forests, brownfields, infrastructure, energy, water, air, wetlands, greenhouse gases, and more — and produced dozens of landmark reports. It facilitated an ongoing constructive dialogue that resulted in recommended policy actions based on hard evidence and a sensible balance.
The NRTEE has also educated thousands. Its 2010 Canadian Geographic Partnership Initiative created a map of climate change impacts on Canada that went with lesson plans to some 12,000 schools in Canada. In the first-ever national study of its kind, the NRTEE showed the economic costs of global warming on Canada. They conducted the first national-level study of water pricing and conservation by Canada’s natural resources sectors, and showed how it works. The NRTEE convened a vital bridge building conversation between oil sands companies and environmentalists to commence a dialogue on their issues. It was uniquely positioned to do that as a trusted, neutral, and non-partisan convener.
The NRTEE became a model for convening diverse and competing interests around one table to create consensus ideas and viable suggestions for sustainable development. It forced people to think through how to sustain Canada’s prosperity without borrowing resources from future generations or compromising our future standard of living. It offered a safe haven for discussion and encouraged the unfettered exchange of ideas that led to mutual respect and consensus.
Under the leadership of CEO David McLaughlin the NRTEE became a globally respected body cited by, among others, the International Panel on Climate Change. Significantly, it was the “go-to” destination for both business and environmentalists who sought an honest broker to bridge the perceived gap between environmental protection and economic growth.
Despite being an acknowledged thought leader – and perhaps because of it – the Harper government ignored, and then blacklisted the NRTEE.
Inherent in the NRTEE’s very mission is the belief that effective policy and action requires a deeply shared understanding and unity of purpose. Sewing division and driving wedges between citizens may be good short-term politics, but it is anathema to real nation builders. And the NRTEE was a builder in the very best and noble sense of that ideal.
In the Commons last week, the Conservative front bench laughed off the demise of the NRTEE. In defending the government’s decision, Environment Minister Peter Kent told the House “The NRTEE was created before the Internet, when there were few such sources of domestic, independent research and analysis on sustainable development. That is simply no longer the case. There are now any number of organizations and university-based services that provide those services.”
Of course, that’s utter nonsense, and it would be funny if it weren’t so sad. There is no body in Canada that comes close to providing this kind of forum and valuable insight. Kent’s ludicrous comment underscored just how recklessly dismissive the Harper government is to independent and objective advice and analysis, and how truly empty their policy agenda is.
The National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy was a vital tool for engaging civil society in one of the most pressing issues of our age. It fostered awareness, education, knowledge, mutual respect and understanding, compromise, and balance – things responsible national leadership must do, by definition.
But, then again, I never accused the Harper Conservatives of being responsible, smart, or competent.
“Saving” $5.5 million will cost Canada hugely in the long term. The unceremonious end to this significant national institution marks yet another illustration that small minds and smaller thinking permeates the biggest and most polarizing government in our history.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Daniel Veniez
With a miniscule operating budget of $5.5 million, the NRTEE’s tremendous impact has far surpassed its annual appropriation. The NRTEE has been a high-performance, high-value organization that punched far above its weight and the resources assigned to it.
Sadly, this government has never valued — or welcomed — independent and rigorous fact-based analysis and advice. In fact, it has treated those with the temerity to try with open and visceral contempt.
Created in 1988 by Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, he understood that a growing and prospering economy and environmental sustainability are inseparable ideas. Far from being mutually exclusive, a vigorous economy and environmental sustainability are inextricably linked.
Canada played a leading role in the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. Mulroney, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin recognized the necessity of bringing together business and environmental stakeholders to provide non-partisan and evidence-based research and advice to policy-makers.
Indeed, that was its core purpose. The NRTEE’s mission was to bring “leadership in the new way we must think of the relationship between the environment and the economy and the new way we must act.” For more than two decades, the NRTEE became a critical and dispassionate bridge between what on the surface appears to be competing and irreconcilable interests. They showed that in the development of sensible public policy, interests are never irreconcilable, particularly when there is a genuine desire and commitment to forge a reasonable accommodation. This approach is vital to driving a forward-looking agenda in the national interest.
At a time when those interests have been under intense pressure and increasingly polarized, the NRTEE has attempted to be a consensus-builder. It assembled private and public sector and NGO experts with first-hand knowledge in a diversity of areas — forests, brownfields, infrastructure, energy, water, air, wetlands, greenhouse gases, and more — and produced dozens of landmark reports. It facilitated an ongoing constructive dialogue that resulted in recommended policy actions based on hard evidence and a sensible balance.
The NRTEE has also educated thousands. Its 2010 Canadian Geographic Partnership Initiative created a map of climate change impacts on Canada that went with lesson plans to some 12,000 schools in Canada. In the first-ever national study of its kind, the NRTEE showed the economic costs of global warming on Canada. They conducted the first national-level study of water pricing and conservation by Canada’s natural resources sectors, and showed how it works. The NRTEE convened a vital bridge building conversation between oil sands companies and environmentalists to commence a dialogue on their issues. It was uniquely positioned to do that as a trusted, neutral, and non-partisan convener.
The NRTEE became a model for convening diverse and competing interests around one table to create consensus ideas and viable suggestions for sustainable development. It forced people to think through how to sustain Canada’s prosperity without borrowing resources from future generations or compromising our future standard of living. It offered a safe haven for discussion and encouraged the unfettered exchange of ideas that led to mutual respect and consensus.
Under the leadership of CEO David McLaughlin the NRTEE became a globally respected body cited by, among others, the International Panel on Climate Change. Significantly, it was the “go-to” destination for both business and environmentalists who sought an honest broker to bridge the perceived gap between environmental protection and economic growth.
Despite being an acknowledged thought leader – and perhaps because of it – the Harper government ignored, and then blacklisted the NRTEE.
Inherent in the NRTEE’s very mission is the belief that effective policy and action requires a deeply shared understanding and unity of purpose. Sewing division and driving wedges between citizens may be good short-term politics, but it is anathema to real nation builders. And the NRTEE was a builder in the very best and noble sense of that ideal.
In the Commons last week, the Conservative front bench laughed off the demise of the NRTEE. In defending the government’s decision, Environment Minister Peter Kent told the House “The NRTEE was created before the Internet, when there were few such sources of domestic, independent research and analysis on sustainable development. That is simply no longer the case. There are now any number of organizations and university-based services that provide those services.”
Of course, that’s utter nonsense, and it would be funny if it weren’t so sad. There is no body in Canada that comes close to providing this kind of forum and valuable insight. Kent’s ludicrous comment underscored just how recklessly dismissive the Harper government is to independent and objective advice and analysis, and how truly empty their policy agenda is.
The National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy was a vital tool for engaging civil society in one of the most pressing issues of our age. It fostered awareness, education, knowledge, mutual respect and understanding, compromise, and balance – things responsible national leadership must do, by definition.
But, then again, I never accused the Harper Conservatives of being responsible, smart, or competent.
“Saving” $5.5 million will cost Canada hugely in the long term. The unceremonious end to this significant national institution marks yet another illustration that small minds and smaller thinking permeates the biggest and most polarizing government in our history.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Daniel Veniez
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