CLIMATE CHANGE WORKSHOP SERIES
presents
Kathryn Harrison
University of British Columbia, Political Science Department
The Struggle of Ideas, Interests, and Institutions
in Canadian Climate Policy
Friday, February 29, 2008
12:30 – 2:00
Solarium (room FA2), Falconer Hall
84 Queen’s Park
This paper addresses two questions: why did Canada ratify despite anticipation of significant costs, and why has it made so little progress toward reducing its emissions? The analysis considers the interaction over time of three independent variables: electoral incentives, political institutions, and policymakers’ own values. While Prime Minister Jean Chretien was able to employ his authority as leader of a majority government to fulfill a personal commitment to ratification, that ideational commitment was fragile in the face of persistent business and provincial opposition under the Martin government, and was further undermined by ideological hostility in the early months of the Harper Conservative government. The dearth of abatement measures adopted to date suggests that institutional obstacles, voter inattention, and business opposition have prevailed over policymakers’ ideas. However, there are indications that the recent surge in public attention to climate change may be sufficient to transform Canadian climate policy.
Kathryn Harrison is a Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. She has a Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Western Ontario, Master's degrees in political science and chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in political science from UBC. Before entering academia, she worked as a policy analyst for both Environment Canada and the United States Congress. Dr. Harrison is the author of Passing the Buck: Federalism and Canadian Environmental Policy (UBC Press, 1996), coauthor of Risk, Science, and Politics: Regulation of Toxic Substances in Canada and the United States (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994), co-editor of Managing the Environmental Union (Queen’s University School of Policy Studies, 2000), and editor of Racing to the Bottom? Provincial Interdependence in the Canadian Federation (UBC Press, 2000). She has published recent articles in Global Environmental Politics, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, the Canadian Journal of Economics, and the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Her current research focuses on environmental regulation in the context of economic globalization, the efficacy of alternative policy instruments, and comparative politics of climate change.
A light lunch will be served.
For more workshop information, please contact Nadia Gulezko at n.gulezko@utoronto.ca
