Dion Fails to Sell the Green Shift

As the latest polls indicate, the Liberal Party is in trouble. Rookie party leader, Stephane Dion, is unable to connect with Canadian voters. He comes across as sincere but clueless, intelligent but out-of-touch with the average person.  Instead of running on the Liberal’s record of sound fiscal management and commitment to social programs, Dion has staked his political future on a bold and risky environmental platform, the Green Shift. Undoubtedly, tackling the problem of global warming is critical – our planet and the future of our species hang in the balance. By taxing pollution, Dion is offering an ambitious and proven approach to reducing carbon emissions. “The time has come to do what is right – not what is easy”, reads the online introduction to the Liberal platform.  But Canadians, as much as they profess anxiety about the future of the planet, do not appear keen to embrace a substantial environmental platform. Certainly not in a time of economic uncertainty. The Green Shift might very well have succeeded had it been offered by a tried and trusted leader, someone like Paul Martin, with well established credentials as a sound fiscal manager. But Dion, as nice as he is, is untested and he is unable to effectively communicate his message. In his halting, heavily accented English, the Green Shift comes out sounding like a radical proposal that could seriously undermine the health of the Canadian economy. Canadians are not going to buy it.