Stockholm syndrome refers to the propensity of hostages who have shared the life of their jailer for a long time to sympathize with them and adopt their point of view.
This phrase came to mind when I read that Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is in Sweden to attend events marking the 50e anniversary of the important United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.
This conference, held in Stockholm in 1972, represented the world’s first attempt to deal with environmental problems and marked the beginning of a new era.
Steven Guilbeault’s decision to approve the huge Bay du Nord oil project off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador contrasts with his record of intelligent environmental activism and once again tarnishes Canada’s credibility in terms of sustainable development and the fight against climate change.
A matter of choice
The question arises: did Steven Guilbeault have a choice? The answer is no, if his priority was to please his jailers.
In the field of regulatory theory, we would speak of regulatory capture. The phrase describes a situation where the person (or organization) who is supposed to protect us spends so much time with those he must regulate, that he begins to think like them.
Last of the class
In Canada, we emit more greenhouse gases (GHGs) per person than almost any other country in the world.
Canada was also the first country to exit the Kyoto accord. The Liberals may blame the Conservatives, but their record is just as bad.
The Liberals never had a plan to meet Kyoto and later admitted that their signing was a gesture of political communication in the country.
We have the worst record of the G7 countries since our signing of the Paris Agreement. On his return from Paris, Trudeau adopted the plan of… Stephen Harper (and even that… he never respected it).
United Nations Advocacy
The same week that the United Nations was pleading with the countries of the world to abandon all new fossil fuel extraction projects, Guilbeault did two things: he presented a major plan to reduce GHGs and he approved a massive new project to extraction of fossil energy.
Guilbeault rightly argues that his plan is ambitious. The problem is that sooner or later the government will change. The plan, supposed to take place over thirty years, will then remain largely a dead letter.
The catastrophe is that the new oil will continue to be burned.
« Syndrome de Pinocchio »
When Steven Guilbeault announced that he would be a Liberal candidate, I attended the event. Justin Trudeau knew he had just hit a good shot. It was just before the 2019 election.
Guilbeault’s supporters hinted that he would be the new environment minister. Unfortunately, Trudeau made him hang around for two years as heritage minister. After the 2021 election, Steven Guilbeault is finally appointed Minister of the Environment, and all hopes are allowed.
Unfortunately for him, with Justin Trudeau, Steven Guilbeault not only had to be wary of Stockholm syndrome, he also had to be wary of “Pinocchio syndrome”.