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Sustainable Development Series:
Four Lessons Learned from Canada's Green Plan Policy:
A Blueprint for an Environmental Paradigm Shift
by Waterose
Introduction:
The Green Plan (GP) was introduced by the government of Canada in December, 1990 and could have been the blueprint for the Canadian environmental paradigm shift. The shift did not take hold at the center of the political power house for Canada, and was discarded in 1993. There are lessons to be learned from successes and failures to successfully implement policy decisions that are important to Canadians and to our global security for the future.
Success One: Strike while the iron is hot!
Timing is everything and it is best to strike when the iron is hot. The implementation of a new policy is successful when the policy goal is popular with the public. In the case of the GP, the introduction of this policy came at a time when environmental concerns were at the forefront of the minds of the public, both at the national and global levels. The Prime Minister, the Environment Canada Minister, and the Canadian public supported the general concept of sustainable development and a GP for Canada. The world was gearing up for an integral paradigm shift towards sustainable development and the Brundtland Commission provided the impetus and ‘paved the way for the GP’ (Gale, 1986).
Success Two: Experienced players are essential to develop sound policy...
It takes experienced players to move a new policy forward through the intricate maze of policy setting on Parliament Hill and to gain the support of other departments that have competing agendas. The Department of the Environment (DOE) did not have the policy expertise in-house and so the DOE recruited an experienced policy master, Dr. Len Good, from another department. Dr. Good secured the $3-billion dollars for the GP because of his ‘exemplary knowledge’ of the inner workings of the house on the hill, and consequently the support from the other departments.
Failure One: Don't burn bridges...
The GP failed to retain the initial impetus because of its’ partisan nature and consequently it lost popularity in 1993 when the Conservative Party was defeated. This policy could have been salvaged if the DOE had not burned its’ bridges, with the environmental non-government organizations (ENGO’s), and most notably with the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE). Both groups had agendas that were aligned with the GP and could have been strong allies to maintain the forward federal momentum of the plan for sustainable development.
Failure Two: Tunnel vision constrains integrated policy development...
The second significant failure of the GP is attributable to the tunnel vision of Prime Minister Mulroney in isolating environmentally sustainable development from economic development. This was evident in the failure to incorporate environmental issues into the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This decision was rooted in the General Agreement and Trade (GATT) agenda to rule against trade barriers as a form of penalty for poor environmental conduct. Herein lies the failure of the international and national players to attain the integral paradigm shift.
Conclusion:
The success or failure of a new policy, especially a policy that calls for a national paradigm shift, is contingent on more than just good policy writing. In the case of the GP, the center of power failed to make the integral paradigm shift from economic growth to sustainable development and this blueprint for an environmental paradigm shift in Canada failed.
References:
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