The NDP thinks you're stupid. The worst thing of all is that they are probably right

{finally, a long post to make up for all these 1-liner entries lately!}

Canadians support the Kyoto treaty, remember? If you don't believe me, just ask CTV's poll from this year, showing that "Most willing to sacrifice for environment".

An increasing number of Canadians are willing to make sacrifices for the environment, according to a poll conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail.

About 93 per cent of those surveyed said they were willing to make some kind of sacrifice to solve global warming, according to findings from the poll conducted by the The Strategic Counsel.

According to the results^†:

• 76 per cent are willing to pay to have their houses retro-fitted to become more energy efficient
• 73 per cent would reduce the amount they fly to times when it is only absolutely necessary
• 72 per cent would pay more for a fuel-efficient car
• 62 per cent are willing to have the economy grow at a significantly slower rate
• 61 per cent would reduce the amount they drive in half.

Of course, the problem is that all this polling talk reveals another example of the lesson Douglas Adams writes in The Salmon of Doubt: "people lie to men holding little clipboards".

According to CityTV's Big Breakfast this morning people across Edmonton and indeed across Canada are fuming. Why? Because gas prices have spiked again to about $1.10/litre (they were back down to $0.74/litre just 4 months ago). So naturally, the pressure is on says CTV News, apparently forgetting what they said a mere 5 months ago.

So what have the NDP decided to do? Well, naturally, they want to hold an inquiry into gas prices. Yes, Minister fans will realize this partly to be a "jobs for the boys" style make-work project. Some old Trudeau-era industry minister can get paid to hold meetings and make decisions that nobody cares about. Leading the charge is Judy Wasylycia-Leis (previously famous for first inquiring into Ralph Gooddale). She was the second shrillest person shown in Parliament during the clip. The shrillest? Conservative Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn. Couldn't they have gotten Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry, to make the response? Lunn sounded so much like a woman I kept checking for his braline.

The worst thing is that Lunn's annoying tone is detrimental to the cause and to his case. While Wasylycia-Leis and Bloc MP Robert Vincent are busy trying to make short term political hay over the high gas prices, apparently nobody in the Conservatives has come up with the obvious response:
Hey NDP, don't you want gas prices to triple under government legislation to combat climate change?

Now the NDP publicly deny these figures (but in private or their own closed-circle environmental rallies have been known to boast how the evil capitalists will see their planet-raping fuel priced out of existence) and complained that John Baird was painting "doomsday scenarios" [hold on hold on hold on.. environmental wackos accusing conservatives of "painting doomsday scenarios"? What's "New York will be totally under water" or "we'll all die of skin cancer and typhoons" then? -ed]. But they never published anything showing what they wanted the costs to be, or what they think the price of gas will or should be after extensive Kyoto implementation and economy wrecking. They know. They are Suzuki and their ilk are all lying to people, and covering up what they truely believe and desire, and it takes somebody with more good sense and balls than Gary Lunn to stop them.

Nevertheless, the NDP continually use these polls to show how people are willing to sacrifice for Kyoto, and people are willing to roast the Conservatives in coffee shops and bus stations over their lack of committment to the environment. Which takes us into the second half of the blog post title. If you "care about the environment" (which I don't) and also "want gas prices to go down" (which I do), then you are a worthless hypocrite. You're also a scumbag and a liar and probably even more detestable than George Stroumboulopoulos. If you want gas prices down, they you want Canada to drop this bullshit about stopping some boogeyman named global warming. There's already a boogeyman. High gas prices. David Suzuki is partly to blame. I figure if gas prices go above a certain level, he and his family should be legally required to compensate Canadians for their losses. As should Jack Layton's family, and Al Gore's family, etc. etc. It may be sins of the fathers, but its time these people were forced out of their delusions.

^† As for the individual "claims":

1. Do these 76% who support retro-fitting their homes say so knowing that large support for this belief might cause Ottawa to use tax money to pay for people to renovate their homes?
2. How much does 73% of the population really fly unnecessarily? Again, I suspect this is another claim that most people can easily make..."I only fly twice every three years, usually either overseas or to Mexico, so all my flights are 'necessary' anyways. This will affect people other than me"
3. Again, the 72% likely expect Stephen Harper to pick up all or part of the tab [what makes them think he'd do that? -ed] and therefore save far more in gas than they pay extra for the car (courtesy the Canadian taxpayer)
4. "Slower rate", say 62%? What about if the economy tanks as several think tanks believe it will? How many of these 62% would still support Kyoto if it left the economy stagnant or in permanent recession?
5. The 61% who would reduce their driving in half probably don't mean it. Do they really plan to skip work 2 days a week? I can't find any hard links on it, but I suspect commuting makes up a huge bulk of the average person's driving miles. We can't all work from home, you know. This is likely a pure case of "saying what you think pretty girls holding clipboards asking questions would want you to say". (My second Yes, Minister reference in this post, I know).

Update, 10:06am: While the Federal Conservatives may not have made the link, that didn't stop non-partisan blogger Big Blue Soapbox from weighing in as well.