speaking of petards

So the Conservatives have been disturbingly effective lately at painting Dion and the Liberals as ivory tower talkers and the Harper/Baird crew as men of action.

Many a beer has been shared and a sparky debate initiated as good Liberals in the nation's capital critique and lament the Conservative attacks.

Today, some hope. A fellow former-staffer sent round the following link to a mock-site about the Conservative's environmental policy plan:

It's called "ecoFRAUD - Sounding Better. Doing Less", and is a direct rip off of the look and feel of the Conservative's real environmental site "ecoACTION - Using Less. Living Better".

Which is amusing...if slightly ivory tower. Because isn't "sounding better" the cornerstone of winning elections? Regardless of what the newly-elected government actual does?

NGOs, activists, academics and other civil society actors have a good case to make for being in perpetual opposition. Constant critique may or may not push a government to amend their policy approaches - but it can garner media attention and encourage coffee shop chat amongst voters.

Still, for the Liberals and our upcoming election campaign...no point sneering - we need to sound better too, if we want to win.

Check out the Conservative environmental plan here.

And the mock ecoFRAUD site here.