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Climate change grips civic byelection

Currier tells lobbyists removing cars would have no impact

By: Bartley Kives

14/03/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 4

‘They never indicated to me this kind of report would be forthcoming’ -- Geoff Currier, candidate

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‘They never indicated to me this kind of report would be forthcoming’ -- Geoff Currier, candidate (RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

‘It’s scientific now. It’s not a matter of what you think. Climate change is a fact’ -- Janice Lukes, director, Winnipeg Trails Association

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‘It’s scientific now. It’s not a matter of what you think. Climate change is a fact’ -- Janice Lukes, director, Winnipeg Trails Association (FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

Winnipeg's two largest active-transportation groups have waded into the River Heights-Fort Garry byelection by suggesting candidate Geoff Currier doesn't believe automobiles contribute to climate change.

Earlier this month, the two groups -- Winnipeg Trails Association and Bike To The Future -- met with Currier and campaign rival John Orlikow to gauge the candidates' positions on active-transportation issues.

According to a summary distributed on Friday, Currier told representatives of both organizations, "I believe that if we were to take all the cars in North America off the road tomorrow, it wouldn't have any effect on climate change."

Currier declined to comment on Friday, except to say he had no idea the groups intended to make the content of the meeting public.

"They never indicated to me this kind of report would be forthcoming," he said.

Winnipeg Trails Association director Janice Lukes, who was present at the March 3 meeting with Currier, said she was stunned by the candidate's remarks.

"It's scientific now. It's not a matter of what you think. Climate change is a fact," she said.

"People really have to have a grasp on climate change if they're going to be building a sustainable transportation system," added Bike To The Future board member Mark Cohoe, who was also present at the meeting.

The groups claim they are not endorsing John Orlikow, even though their candidate summary clearly favours the former Winnipeg School Board trustee over Currier, a broadcaster on leave from news/talk radio station CJOB.

"There was a certain feeling Mr. Orlikow was more willing to work with us. He was more in line with where we see the city moving," Cohoe said.

Orlikow has also been endorsed by the Winnipeg Labour Council in the byelection, though he claims he has refused the left-wing group's endorsement -- while still accepting its help.

Currier has been endorsed by the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, who have pledged to help get out the vote on byelection day this coming Tuesday.

Up until Friday, the race between the two candidates has been clean, as the candidates have shied away from taking shots at each other.

Orlikow broke the truce on Friday by claiming he was amazed by Currier's comments about cars and climate change.

"That outlines the differences between us, Geoff and I. It really reflects George Bush conservatism," he said.

There are no more debates between the two candidates.

Polls are open on Tuesday until 8 p.m.

 

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

 

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 14, 2009 B1

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4 Commentscomment icon

Further to the emissions debate, the carbon dioxide levels of earth's atmosphere have undergone large variations and seen levels much higher than present ones long before humans burned fossil fuels. I'll stick my neck out even further! I question the appropriateness of the term 'global warming'. There is certainly abundant evidence of POLAR warming affecting both poles, but here in our temperate zone, are we not seeing a cooling taking place? Our summers, as defined by the period of high temperatures and not the calendar, have become shorter, both starting later and ending sooner and maximum temperatures do not go as high as they did many years ago, nor are there as many days when we experience truly high temperatures. Allowing for wind chill which Environment Canada does NOT do when assessing the preceding winter as 'bad' or 'good', using only actual temperatures, I certainly find recent winters nastier because of the prevalence of high winds and bone-chilling wind chill values. Since wind chills are calculated and reported, it baffles me why they are not part of the statistics that are used in assessing the severity of winters.

Guess what Janice, Thunderstorms and rainbows are now "scientific" as well...Trying to stop climate change is about as ridiculous as trying to stop thunderstorms and rainbows...... Notice how they all of a sudden changed the name from global warming to climate change?..could it be that the globe has actually been cooling for the last 5 years?....So let me get this straight..CO2 makes the earth get warmer and then it makes the earth get cooler?...C'mon folks wake up....CO2 is one of the life giving forces. Sun, water, oxygen and CO2....When government controls CO2, they control everything we do... that being said, I like bike trails...

I'm so sick of hearing people say that cliamte change is scientific. Of course every day the climate changes but not all scientists agree that carbon emissions are the cause of a warming trend. Many people want to believe that carbon has an effect on cliamate but their is not an experiment that proves it. It is a belief, kinda of like a religion. The world has warmed and cooled for thousands of years what caused that? I think we all need to watch our excesses and to use our resources as efficently as possible but to say the debate is over without the possibility that their could be other causes sounds a little fanatical or brainwashed.

Clearly, some of these environmental nazis don't have a real understanding of what pollution is all about. If the major polluters, such as India and China, don't cut their emmissions, anything we do will have little effect. On that score, Mr. Currier's comments are accurate. I'm sure that Mr. Currier full weel knows that pollution is unacceptable, but those nazis like to twist things to their advantage. Shame on them.

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