O Canada!

Nobel peace laureates condemn Canada.

Once upon a time, peaceful, progressive Canada and the Nobel Peace Prize would have been considered two peas in a pod. Not any more. Last week, Canada had the dubious honour of inciting a letter of condemnation from eight Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

Today (23 February), a committee of the EU’s Council of Ministers will vote on a proposal from the European Commission to give a higher emissions value to certain fuels such as oil from tar sands. Canada, which is rich in tar sands, has been lobbying member states against this proposal, and the matter has become so politicised that the committee will probably refer the decision up to ministers.

The peace prize laureates have written to the EU’s environment ministers and government leaders urging them not to give in to Canada’s pressure on tar sands. “Europe must not follow in Canada’s footsteps,” they wrote.

Their letter goes on to condemn Canada not only for its extraction of oil from tar sands but also for pushing the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to bring more oil to the United States. They praise their fellow peace prize laureate Barack Obama for his recent decision to reject a proposal to build the pipeline.

Nobel peace laureates condemning Canada and praising the United States? The world has gone topsy-turvy. In 1999, when the South Park comedy team produced a film with the rousing song “Blame Canada!” it was supposed to be ironic. Now it’s for real.