But party leader Alexa McDonough has spent most of her energy trying to score political points by scolding the Liberals for cutting funding to health care and social programs. The Conservative Party has proposed preferential tax treatment and incentives for consumers and industries who buy clean, renewable sources of energy. Lately, the prime minister himself has been the target of attacks for having used his influence to help a friend in his riding secure a questionable business loan from a government lending agency. The scent of scandal further sidelined the environment in nightly news reports. I'm not trying to absolve us of everything, but the media kind of sets the frame.
Greens currently hold no seats in parliament, but they offer voters a bold environmental strategy.
It includes includes scrapping the Gross National Product as a measure of economic progress and replacing it with a Genuine Progress Indicator, which would track environmental and social progress as well as the fiscal bottom line. The Green Party also advocates phasing out subsidies to large-scale agribusinesses, a ban on genetically modified foods and fish farms and tax incentives for Canadian farmers who revert to organic growing methods. Although polls indicate the current government will probably hang onto power for a third term, many Liberal seats are thought to be vulnerable and Chr tien could find himself at the head of a minority government. Recipients should seek permission to reprint the article from the source listed above. Reading on line, downloading or other use of this information signifies acceptance of these conditions, and the Full Disclaimer.