Today was supposed to be Mark Parent’s big day.
The former environment minister had spent the past couple years working on the government’s climate change plan. After many delays, it was finally completed and ready to be released today.
But on Wednesday, Premier Rodney MacDonald shuffled his cabinet. Parent was moved out of Environment to Agriculture as former Natural Resources minister David Morse took over his job. Parent is also minister of Labour.
Now the report is delayed yet again, so that Morse has time to catch up and be the go-to guy when it’s released. A lot of people in Parent’s position would be frustrated, but luckily he’s a former pastor.
“There’s a passage in the New Testament where Paul talks about others labouring and him reaping, and him labouring and others reaping,” Parent said. “And so I thought, you know, I’m happy for David.”
Morse had some involvement with the plan in his previous job, but said he wants to study every aspect of it before the release. There is no new release date for the plan, which will be announced alongside the new energy strategy.
But Morse said he hopes it won’t be much more than a week.
“The biggest challenge we face globally is climate change,” said Morse. “You can solve terrorism, poverty and cure cancer, and it’s going to be irrelevant if we’ve allowed the climate to get out of control.”
The plan has already been approved by cabinet, and Morse said he won’t be making any changes to it.
The plan was originally due more than a year ago, but saw repeated delays. Morse said it will be worth the wait.
“You’ve really got to make sure that you’ve got it right. If that means that it takes an extra year, then it’s better to take the year. But make sure that it’s right when you do unveil it,” he said.
