Kent says Canada must counter disinformation on environment by ecologists

RIO DE JANEIRO – Environment Minister Peter Kent says Canada must stop the spread of disinformation on the environment by ecologists with an ideological agenda.

It’s the latest example of strained relations between Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government and the environmental movement.

Kent, who is attending a United Nations conference in Brazil on the environment, says ideology has tinged criticism of the federal government’s efforts.

While he says he appreciates the narrow focus of the environmental groups, the federal government has to look at the bigger picture and consider the impact on the economy.

The Harper government has been knocked by environmentalists for renouncing the targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions contained in the Kyoto accord and its record in general on the environment.

Kent says Canadian and international media should look closer at the federal government’s environment policies, which he says some environmentalists have unfairly described as cataclysmic.