“I don’t really know where to start,” said Amara Possian, 23, a Montreal resident who co-ordinated a delegation of Canadian youth in December 2011 who attended the annual United Nations climate change summit in South Africa. “It’s not that we’re not informed, it’s just that the government doesn’t want to listen.”
The document, released to Postmedia News through access-to-information legislation, was prepared for Canada’s climate change ambassador, Guy Saint-Jacques, following his appointment in 2010. It highlighted the importance of “transparency” and consultation with “civil society” within Canada to build support for federal policies.
“Key international NGOs are influencing both the parties (countries) and our domestic stakeholders, but we are not engaging them,” said a draft version of the presentation dated Sept. 7, 2010.
“Some groups are under-engaged or engaged very late in the process. Youth groups are not well-informed, tend to engage only at the (annual UN climate change summits), mainly through public advocacy activities.”
Saint-Jacques and Environment Minister Peter Kent were not available for interviews Thursday. But in a statement, Environment Canada said it is working hard to maintain good relations with stakeholders and has received some positive feedback on its efforts.
“Canada has received international recognition for the extent to which it engages its domestic stakeholders in the international process as compared to many other developed countries,” said spokesman Mark Johnson in an email.
He was not immediately able to provide details of that recognition.
The Canadian government was criticized on the international stage in recent climate change negotiating sessions for rejecting legally binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol – it announced it would withdraw from the agreement – and also for allegedly obstructing international progress on a new binding global warming pact.
Possian noted that several members of Canadian youth delegations, who criticized the Harper government at the annual UN climate summits for adopting positions many feel protect oil and gas companies that cause the pollution linked to global warming, have gone on to do important international policy work on sustainable development issues, including offering advice to negotiating teams of developing countries.
For example, Marie-Marguerite Sabongui, 28, a Montrealer who now lives New York, was recruited to join another negotiating team after attending a 2010 UN climate change summit in Mexico as a Canadian youth delegate.
She served as an adviser to the small island nation of Nauru for last June’s Earth Summit in Brazil, explaining that it allowed her to take on a role that reflects the Canadian values she was raised to believe in.
“Canada has some very intelligent, talented young professionals and if our interests are not represented by our own government, we are best served to work on teams who do reflect our views,” she said. “I think it ultimately ties into a Canadian identity question. Is Canada a strong multilateral player or is it a country that only looks after its own economic interest?”
Possian also said that Canadian negotiators actually told Canadian youth delegations in meetings that they didn’t always support the government’s positions, but felt there was little room for civil society to influence the process since Canada’s stance was based on political orders from a few people at the top.
But the presentation said that the concept of “meaningful consultation” was part of a “strong commitment” by former environment minister Jim Prentice, since the UN negotiations were “essentially public” with many groups accredited to participate in the process.
“Lack of engagement in the past has negatively affected relations with interested constituencies,” said the presentation.
It also said that provincial and territorial representatives provided “useful advice and perspectives” during the 2009 negotiations and that the engagement process helped to preclude “criticism based on a lack of inclusiveness or transparency.”
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza
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