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Canada comes last: Will the government ever go green?

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Culture & Entertainment

Canada comes last: Will the government ever go green?

It's no secret that Canada has consistently underperformed when it comes to environmental conservation objectives; internationally, we've earned a laughable reputation. And where does the Canadian public stand? Well it turns out we, too, are getting fed up with the federal government's failure to embrace an eco-friendly future. With Canadian and international representatives now in Warsaw for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, many are calling for a legally binding global climate treaty to cut carbon emissions. Leona Aglukkaq is getting her first taste of the global climate change debate, attending the conference for the first time as Environment Minister. (She moved into the position this past July.) Her presence there has been deemed "largely irrelevant" by Climate Action Network Canada's head Christian Holz. And he's not the only one who thinks Canada isn't ready for such a treaty. A recent survey conducted by The Environics Institute shows Canadians are losing faith in our government's ability to handle climate change. The institute, in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation, set out to determine how Canadian perception has evolved regarding climate change over the past 12 months. They polled 2,003 Canadians via telephone last month, and the findings weren't pretty. Environics found that citizens don't believe the federal government is capable of addressing these pressing environmental issues—only 53 percent of the public have faith in Parliament Hill—while their belief that climate change is real and caused by humans is at its highest rate in six years. Germanwatch, a nonprofit lobbyist group, also released its 2014 climate change performance index ranking 61 countries on their environmental efforts earlier this week. Canada came in 58th place and was dubbed "the worst performer of all industrialized countries." Not all of Canada is doomed. Individuals across the country are trying to make a difference, even if our elected officials have not. Interested in finding out how you measure up? Take our quiz here of find ways to help combat climate change. (Photo: MorgueFile.com)

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Canada comes last: Will the government ever go green?

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