This paper is a critique of the federal government's Green Plan which proposes a $3 billion, five-year regulatory and policy action plan on the environment. The plan is assessed against six criteria, or sh̦ades of green': key environmental policy needs, the green plans of other industrialized nations, the standards and expectations of the single-interest environmental lobby, current economic realities, previous megapolicy initiatives, and the larger geopolitics of Canadian unity.

Environmental matters have become increasingly important in Canadian and world policy agendas. In this study, G. Bruce Doern and Thomas Conway trace the development of Canadian environment policy, giving an in-depth account of twenty years of environmental politics, politicians, institutions, and decisions as seen through the evolution of Ottawa's policy agency, Environment Canada. The Greening of Canada is an extensively researched look at the entire period from the early 1970s to the present and is the most complete and integrated analysis yet of federal environmental institutions and key decisions. From Great Lakes pollution to the Green Plan, from the Stockholm Conference to the post–Rio Earth Summit era, the authors deal with both domestic and international events and influences on Ottawa's often abortive efforts to entrench a green agenda into national politics. The book explores the crucial relationships of institutional and political power, directing attention at the DOE and its parade of ministers, intra-cabinet battles, federal-provincial relations, business relations and public opinion, and international and Canada–U.S. relations. It also examines important topics from acid-rain policy to the politics of establishing national parks, and from the Green Plan to the realities of environmental enforcement. Employing a framework cast as the 'double dynamic' of environmental policy making, the authors show the growing struggle between the management of power among key institutions and the need to accommodate a biophysical realm characterized by increased uncertainty as well as scientific and technological controversy.

One of the more significant recommendations to emerge from UNCED in 1992 was the call in Agenda 21 for countries to develop and implement national sustainable development strategies. Most countries have responded to this challenge. However many countries also have a long history of drawing up planning exercises at this level to deal with environmental problems. 'Green planning' is now used as a shorthand term for a range of such national-level planning initiatives covering both sustainable development and environmental concerns, and countries from the North and the South can benefit from a pooling of knowledge. Getting to Grips with Greens Plans presents a cogent analysis of industrial countries' experiences in this area, drawing out lessons and observations from broad empirical experience. Part 1 provides an overview of national green planning, reviewing its origins and scope, identifying popular approaches and common processes, highlighting important issues such as participation, the influence of domestic politics, and the track record of more ambitious regional plans, and comparing approaches in developed and developing countries. Part 2 goes on to present a series of detailed case studies, drawn largely from interviews with key individuals responsible for coordinating national green planning processes. These cases come from a range of Western and Eastern European countries, the US and Canada, and Australia and New Zealand. Some of these case studies show impressive records of achievement, whilst others demonstrate potential stumbling blocks. All demonstrate the difficulty of putting the concept of sustainable development into practice Barry Dalal-Clayton is director of the Environmental Planning Group at the International Institute for Environment and Development, London. In recent years, Dr Dalal Clayton has been deeply involved in analyzing approaches to national sustainable development strategies and environmental action plans in many countries, and in advising governments and international agencies in this field. His other current research interests include environmental impact assessment, community-based wildlife management and land use planning. Originally published in 1996

This book examines policy-making in one of the most significant areasof activity in the Canadian economy -- natural resources and theenvironment. It discusses the evolution of resource policies from theearly era of exploitation to the present era of resource andenvironmental management. Using an integrated political economy andpolicy perspective, the book provides an analytic framework from whichthe foundation of ideological perspectives, administrative structures,and substantive issues are explored. The integration of social scienceperspectives and the combination of theoretical and empirical work makethis innovative book one of the most comprehensive analyses of Canadiannatural resource and environmental policy to date.

This study sets out and examines the key issues and players involved in the dynamics of reaching international environmental agreements. The study deals mainly with the political-distributive and the managerial and organizational challenges, commenting only briefly on the ecological-economic challenge. It analyzes the crucial issues for understanding the Canadian and international processes for reaching major international green agreements and protocols. These issues are identified as the nature and dynamics of international green agenda setting, the difficult conceptual issues involved in determining what the Canadian national interest is and when it is at stake, the limits of domestic consensus formation, how to foster greater trust and confidence in the negotiation process among interest groups and provinces, and the adequacy of the crucial relationship between the Dept. of External Affairs and International Trade and the Dept. of the Environment.

This volume is the thirteenth in the series on federal government spending and policy performance compiled by Carleton University's School of Public Administration. This year's edition considers the politics of competitiveness - the ways in which international forces and trends pose particular challenges to federal policy makers. Articles are provided by experts on a variety of topics, including staff relations under the Tories, federal attempts to grapple with unemployment and the changing global economy, the evolving relationship between the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada, changes in the funding of health care, the governance of the national capital, as well as federal attention to policies for the disabled and the Canadian AIDS policy. Also addressed are the Conservatives' centerpiece environmental program, the Green Plan and regulation to broadcasting in the face of major technological advances.

This book provides an analytic framework from which the foundation of ideological perspectives, administrative structures, and substantive issues are explored. Departing from traditional approaches that emphasize a single discipline or perspective, it offers an interdisciplinary framework with which to think through ecological, political, economic, and social issues. It also provides a multi-stage analysis of policy making from agenda setting through the evaluation process. The integration of social science perspectives and the combination of theoretical and empirical work make this innovative book one of the most comprehensive analyses of Canadian natural resource and environmental policy to date.