A media conference is taking place at this moment with representatives of the Liberal, NDP, Bloc Quebecois, and Green parties, as well as Climate Action Network members.

Liberal environment critic Gerard Kennedy, NDP environment critic Linda Duncan, Bloc environment critic Bernard Bigras, and Green Party leader Elizabeth May are on the podium.

They are calling on the Harper government to take action on climate change and respect the Kyoto Protocol.

May is denouncing the Harper government’s defeat of C-311, the climate legislation recently stopped in the Senate after its passage in the House of Commons.

Assembly of First Nations Yukon chief Eric Morris is calling for strong emission reductions and for participation as a party in the climate talks.

Equiterre, the National Union of Public and General Employees, and the Canadian Youth Delegation also spoke.

It’s not obvious at this point in the large room (with about 35 people in it) which, if any, Canadian media might be present. We are told that environment minister John Baird scheduled a press conference for earlier this morning off-site, thus effectively taking most of the Canadian media from this gathering.

Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns and Communications, Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org

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Brent Patterson

Brent Patterson is a political activist, writer and the executive director of Peace Brigades International-Canada. He lives in Ottawa on the traditional, unceded and unsurrendered territories of the Algonquin...