Heated debates and melting ice

If the long term international consequences of climate change are not enough to propel the Canadian government into action, Michael Byers, a Political Science professor at UBC, hopes the potential loss of Canadian sovereignty in the arctic will.

Byers has travelled to the Canadian arctic to witness the melting sea ice, a by-product of climate change, and says the government needs to step up their action on climate change.

But John Baird is not listening to the public, academics, or fellow MPs.

The opposition parties slashed through the Conservatives' Clean Air Act this week. In the politically savvy move, the opposition parties gutted the Conservative bill and added strict targets that adhere to Canada's Kyoto obligations, leaving the Conservatives little choice but to watch the new bill pass.

Baird called the move a partisan effort to bring down the Conservatives in the same breath as slagging the Liberals.

“I think this is clearly more about politics than it is about serving the environment. We’ll take a period to look at the entirety of the damage that the Liberals have done and make a call in the future ... I can tell you I’m not happy.”

As the tensions over climate change rise on Parliament Hill, the country creeps closer to an election that is set to be focused on the environment. The hot tempers flaring in Ottawa right now are enough to melt the sea ice in the arctic alone.