本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent devaluation and denigration of the Kyoto treaty is
further proof that is further proof that the Conservative Party of Canada is still largely dominated by
racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic, misogynistic, patriarchal, Anglo Chauvinist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, redneck, gun toting, bible thumping, anti-Quebecois, anti-Francophone, slavishly pro-American, backwards, socially regressive, pickup truck driving, neanderthalic, redneck, trailor trash.
The true reason behind Stephen Harper slashing and burning of Canadian climate change program lies
with his record of being a climate change denier, and his labelling of the Kyoto treaty as "Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations" is a cheap ploy at populist nationalism and white privilege while being in total dereliction of global responsibilities.
Perhaps Stephen Harper secretly subscribes to Rudyard Kipling's White Man's Burden theory?.
I must admit that Stephen Harper seems too intelligent and well educated to be a petty racist and
Canadian nationalist, but these statements of his are most disconcerting indeed. Kipling's highly racist and white supremacist wordview presents a Eurocentric view of the world, in which non-European cultures are seen as childlike and demonic. This view proposes that white people consequently have an obligation to rule over, and encourage the cultural development of, people from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds until they can take their place in the world by fully adopting Western ways. The term "the white man's burden" shows the abject racist thinking of white statesman and can be taken as a metaphor for a condescending view of non-Western national culture and economic traditions, identified as a sense of white racial ascendancy which has been called "cultural imperialism". It also refers to a total dereliction of duty on the part of the plundering white man towards non-white peoples and the overall health and security of the planet.
Regardless, I think Stephen Harper's "Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of
wealth-producing nations" totally fails to address the fact that the so-called "weath-producing nations"
which are by and large white nations, have by and large acquired such wealth through enslavement of
non-white peoples, colonialism, imperialism, plunder, exploitation, and vicious racism and conquest.
I think Stephen Harper needs to educate himself on white guilt. White guilt refers to feelings of guilt said
to be experienced by some people of European descent when they consider present or past wrongs committed by their ancestors against natives of conquered and colonised lands. It is usually used with regard to White Americans and Black Americans.
In today's society, it is nearly universally accepted that in the past, white Europeans committed wrongs against non-whites in the form of economic exploitation through colonialism and political and legal systems designed to enforce racial segregation and racial discrimination. Many white people do not feel a sense of personal guilt over past oppression of other races, and resent being blamed for events they had nothing to do with. Others are often anxious to distance themselves from the actions of their ancestors and are said to feel a sense of collective guilt. Similarly it is said that descendants of oppressed people, some of whom have experienced modern day discrimination, sometimes expect whites, either collectively or individually, to feel and accept "white guilt".
Robert James (Auld Bob) Peffers.
Harper's letter dismisses Kyoto as 'socialist scheme' Last Updated: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 | 10:15 PM ET CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper once called the Kyoto accord a
"socialist scheme" designed to suck money out of rich countries,
according to a letter leaked Tuesday by the Liberals.
The letter, posted on the federal Liberal party website, was apparently written by Harper in 2002, when he was leader of the nowdefunct Canadian Alliance party.
He was writing to party supporters, asking for money as he prepared to fight then-prime minister Jean Chrétien on the proposed Kyoto accord.
"We're gearing up now for the biggest struggle our party has faced
since you entrusted me with the leadership," Harper's letter says.
"I'm talking about the 'battle of Kyoto' - our campaign to block the
job-killing, economy-destroying Kyoto accord."
The accord is an international environmental pact that sets targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Canada officially ratified the accord Dec. 17, 2002, under Chrétien's Liberal government. Harper's Conservative government, which took power January 2006, has since been accused of ignoring the accord.
Harper's letter goes on to outline why he's against the agreement.
Accord based on 'contradictory' data: Harper
He writes that it's based on "tentative and contradictory scientific evidence" and it focuses on carbon dioxide, which is "essential to life."
He says Kyoto requires that Canada make significant cuts in emissions, while countries like Russia, India and China face less of a burden.
Under Kyoto, Canada was required to reduce emissions by six per cent by 2012, while economies in transition, like Russia, were allowed to choose different base years.
"Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealthproducing
nations," Harper's letter reads.
He said the accord would cripple the oil and gas industries, which are essential to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
He wrote in the letter that he would do everything he could to stop Chrétien from passing the Kyoto agreement.
"We will do everything we can to stop him there, but he might get it
passed with the help of the socialists in the NDP and the separatists in the BQ [Bloc Québécois]."
The Prime Minister's Office refused to comment about the letter on the record.
In recent weeks, Harper has spoken strongly about the environment, saying he will dramatically revamp his minority government's muchcriticized clean air act.
His comments come as public-opinion polls indicate the environment has become the number one issue among Canadians.
Liberal MP Mark Holland told the Canadian Press on Tuesday that the leaked letter shows that Harper isn't actually committed to climate change.
"Now, suddenly, because he has seen the polls and realized the
political opportunism of going green, the prime minister has launched a new campaign - that of trying to convince Canadians that he actually cares about the environment," Holland said.
"But no one is buying it."
The Kyoto Protocol went into effect Feb. 16, 2005, with 141 countries signing on, including every major industrialized country, except the United States, Australia and Monaco.
With files from the Canadian Press
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