It has been a long five months for Rona Ambrose.
Talk on the Hill yesterday focused on an NDP motion that was to come up in the
Commons environment committee calling for her resignation.
As MPs took part in their last closed-door caucus meeting before summer, the
federal Environment Minister received warm expressions of support yesterday
morning from her fellow Tories.
And while a motion from a committee had the potential to carry some political
weight, it would certainly not be the first time she had been asked to step
down.
The heckling and resignation calls have been constant during the daily Question
Period. As the main voice for a new government that is dramatically changing
Canada's international position with respect to the environment, Ms. Ambrose,
37, was tasked with weathering the political storm.
Programs that public servants in her department had become attached to suddenly
disappeared as the government looked for savings to finance a new "Made in
Canada" plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The grumbling from public
servants made it to the ears of Canadian environmentalists, who have been nearly
unanimous in their condemnations.
The list of criticisms is well known. Ms. Ambrose has bluntly said that Canada
won't meet its targets under the Kyoto Protocol for reducing the carbon
emissions linked to global warming, even though it will chair negotiations for
the second phase of the agreement for the rest of the year.
She has forged new environmental alliances with the United States and Australia,
two nations that are criticized internationally for pulling out of the Kyoto
process.
She has kept to her speaking notes and avoided forums in which she might have to
speak off the cuff, such as media interviews or committee appearances.
Her masters thesis at the University of Alberta was on the impact of emerging
policy issues on Canadian politics. But the opposition has repeatedly singled
her out for what they say is a poor understanding of her portfolio.
"She does not understand climate change," NDP Leader Jack Layton stated bluntly
in the House of Commons as he called for her resignation.
Ms. Ambrose got a break yesterday when the Liberals declared that they would
abstain from a vote on the NDP motion for her to step down.
Fellow Edmonton Conservative Rahim Jaffer, who chairs the Tory caucus, says
critics should give her time to roll out the government's plan this fall. He
said Tory MPs expressed their support in caucus yesterday.
"Everyone said that we're behind her. We think she's doing a tremendous job
given the pressure and given the challenge of the portfolio. If anything, people
are encouraging the plan to come forward as soon as possible but are patient to
understand she's got a lot of challenges in dealing with it."
Although she did some work on the Kyoto file during her time with the Alberta
government, Ms. Ambrose did not have a great deal of environmental experience.
Conservatives say it takes time to get up to speed and build trust among the
huge number of players who would be affected by the promised Clean Air Act. Ms.
Ambrose has travelled to every province except Prince Edward Island to meet with
her counterparts and industry and interest groups.
And her first few months have not been void of action. The federal budget
brought in a tax rebate for transit-pass users and infrastructure money to
improve public transit. More quietly, the federal government has been passing
new regulations that impose caps on pollutants.
While under attack this week, Ms. Ambrose pointed to those measures.
"What this government has done in the first four months is introduce a new
pollution law for base smelters. We have introduced a new pollution law to
reduce sulphur and diesel. We have banned 10 tonnes of mercury out of our
environment. This week the Minister of Health and I have taken a huge step to
protect the health of Canadians by being the first country in the world to
prohibit any new products which contain a node toxin which causes cancer in
Canadians."
One Conservative close to the minister says critics should look at these
measures as examples of the strong policies that Ms. Ambrose will announce this
fall.
"I think people are going to be very impressed by it."