Just before the world met in Cancun for climate talks, Conservatives in the Senate -- abetted by the prime minister -- deprived Canadians of legislation that would address the pressing problem of global climate change and also usher in a prosperous clean energy economy.

When pressed why the Conservative Senate called the premature vote on the Climate Change Accountability Act on Nov. 16th, Prime Minister Stephen Harper retorted that it would have thrown "hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of people out of work."