His Master's Voice   (2 Nov 02)

The Canadian celebrity environmentalist, David Suzuki, is currently visiting Australia and was interviewed on ABC Radio on Friday 1st November by radio host Phillip Adams.  During the conversation it was disclosed that Canada's prime minister Chrétien had attempted to contact Suzuki by phone in Australia.  A bit later in the interview Adams announced to Suzuki that Chrétien had indeed contacted the ABC to reassure Suzuki that the bill to ratify the Kyoto Protocol would still be presented to the Canadian parliament in December in spite of the rejection at the COP8 conference in New Delhi of Canada's attempt to have its clean energy exports to the US included in its Kyoto targets (which would have represented about one third of Canada's commitments).

Many Canadians denied any say or input into this matter would dearly envy Suzuki's favoured position.  Not only does he obviously have the ear of the prime minister, he is even sought out by the P.M.   This raises the issue as to who is really making public policy in this area - the democratically elected Chrétien or the self-elected Suzuki?

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John L. Daly is "...the author of "The Greenhouse Trap", (Bantam Books, 1989), and also of articles and papers in New Zealand Science Monthly, New Woman, Forest Industries Journal , Norwegian Oil Review, papers in "Climate Change" (Univ. of Western Sydney) and for the 1990 ANZAAS Congress. Written and verbal submissions to the Industry Commission and the 1996 National Greenhouse Response Strategy Review." (more). 
Not only that, but John L. Daly applies his life-long passion about things to do with the weather and climate to constructing and maintaining an enormously popular website, Still Waiting For Greenhouse, that as of Jan. 6, 2003 had received more than 1.3 million visitors.

Here's a note on this that I originally sent out on Nov 4:

You can listen to the Suzuki interview on a show called Late Night Live at:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/lnl/default.htm [The link is not functioning. —WHS]

Dr. Suzuki comes on after the half hour, and the comments referenced below occur at about the 49:00 minute mark.

Here is what's said, in regards to Canada's ratification of Kyoto:

Suzuki: "Well, I don't want to drop names, but I just got an e-mail from my secretary that said the prime minister wanted to talk to me."

Dr. Suzuki then claims this has "never, ever happened" before.

He presumes the call is about Kyoto, because Alberta -- "our Texas" and "the richest province in the country" -- has launched a multi-million dollar advertising campaign that is "just kicking the hell out of the prime minister."

To which the show's host, Phillip Adams, a film-maker and former director of Greenpeace Australia replies, "I've just had a call from him and he's going to go to a vote before Parliament rises before Christmas, and he wanted me to pass that on to you."

Suzuki: "I knew that, Jean. Thank you."

It seems bizarre that the PMO would call an ABC host to relay a message to Suzuki, yet both men played this entirely straight, and neither seemed to think it remarkable.