You can count on Canadians

A new poll has found that a clear majority of Canadians want action on climate change, and that a large majority believes global warming is "mankind's defining crisis" that demands an immediate response. The online poll involved 1,009 Canadians and was conducted by Harris-Decima on behalf of the Munk Debates. It asked respondents if they agreed or disagreed with a resolution to be debated Tuesday during the fourth Munk Debate in Toronto: "Climate change is mankind's defining crisis, and demands a commensurate response" Approximately two thirds of Canadians agreed with this present reality, while thirty-one percent disagreed (and are apparently out of touch with reality). A miniscule fraction had no opinion, apparently too busy with their cellphones, reality television, People magazine, or wherever else their lackadaisical perspective takes them. Rudyard Griffiths, one of the organizers of the Munk Debates said:

I think it shows the extent to which not just the environment, but the actual issue of climate change, has ascended up the public agenda to point where it is reminiscent of those other big causes that have shaped a lot of Canadian history.

Women were a little bit more predisposed to agree with the statement, as opposed to men, with sixty-seven percent of women and sixty-three percent of men recognizing the reality of the climate crisis. Meanwhile, throughout the country, more Quebecers and Atlantic Canadians recognized the reality of the climate crisis, while those in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan were less likely to agree (more rednecks who don't need science or fancy book learnin').

Harris-Decima also asked Canadians for their views on a variety of arguments for and against climate change. Respondents were given five assertions usually proclaimed by those who support combating climate change, and five statements made by morons who are against addressing the crisis. Harris-Decima recorded a robust conviction on both sides (huh?) of the debate that there is a ethical obligation to address the crisis asap in order to save the planet's future generations. So, the deniers of reality conceed that we're in big trouble, but don't want to do anything about it?
Both sides also agreed that changing climates poses a threatens extinction to global species and ecologies, and scientists have reached a consensus that the crisis needs to be addressed.

The poll also found that nearly two thirds of Canadians think we will be able to adapt to climate change.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's Whitby riding office was occupied by seven protesters (images here), who were calling for more action on the climate crisis. The protesters belong to People for Climate Justice, who insist on a legally binding agreement to be reached at the Copenhagen Climate Conference. People for Climate Justice are demanding that the Harper government pledge to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to twenty-five percent of 1990 levels. They said that Flaherty must press the government for a "just, ambitious, and binding deal in Copenhagen with science-based targets."

Last week, a protest was also held at Environment Minister Jim Prentice's riding office in Calgary: