Every morning there are meetings where Canadians are able to meet with Michael Martin, Canada’s Lead Negotiator at COP15. Today Tyler, Sylvie and Emily from UWSP attended this meeting in order to get some more insight as to what is going on with Canada and why we aren’t saying anything. Our goal was to hear first hand why the government of Canada is not speaking up and what their plans are in terms of meeting commitments.
The meeting today was similar to most meetings that occur with our government – UNANSWERED AND OPEN-ENDED. Many questions were asked from a variety of youth and press. The youth put pressure on the government, but in all cases they were ignored with the annoying use of jargon coming from Mr. Martin. A key question that was asked was: Are Canada’s Current Targets Good Enough? [In regards to the melting of the ice caps and 2050]. Michael Martin answered – or didn’t answer – with a vague statement by saying, “I am not a scientist.” He went on to say that there are a group of scientists that provide recommendations to the delegation and give them the “scientific facts”, but would not answer the question whether or not Canada’s targets will have a negative effect on the earth by 2050. Caroline, a CYD delegate then attempted a different strategy by asking what the scientists have to say about our emission targets. He avoided the question by using governmental jargon. Mike Martin continued to say that it isn’t OUR problem, it is the global community’s problem. He repeatedly stated that Canada will step up only if other countries [AKA the United States] also start making decisions. It is obvious that Canada is not a leader and we as the youth at this COP are embarrassed by Canada’s lack of positive actions.
There are podcasts available so that you can hear what Michael Martin has to say. These will be posted shortly on the Canadian Youth Delegation website, http://cydcopenhagen.org/?cat=5 There are previous podcasts from the week which are also available on this website.
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