Do the thing or get off the pot, Steve

As the Stephen Harper Conservatives do their worst to hang onto government, while they do have power they remain determined not to do anything constructive with it:

The federal government made international headlines last year when it added bisphenol A to the country's toxic substances list, but it has quietly stopped issuing new reviews of hazardous chemicals under the program that highlighted the dangers of the plastic-making compound.

(snip)

Ottawa hasn't issued evaluations of any of them, stoking worries among public-health and environmental advocates that the government is cooling toward the plan, which the Conservatives touted as showing their green credentials when Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced it with great fanfare in 2006.

(snip)

There is speculation that Environment Minister Jim Prentice is holding up the process while Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq is ready to proceed, although officials from both departments declined to comment on the delay.

Are we beginning to see a pattern here?

The Harper government has not yet named the leader of a promised probe into the listeriosis outbreak that killed 20 people — a lag critics say discredits an already suspect process.

(snip)

An independent report was to be finished by March 15.

With less than three months to go, a senior government source confirmed there's still no lead investigator.

The delay raises fresh concerns among food-safety watchers, who doubt Conservative commitment to overhaul what they say is a chronically short-staffed inspection system.

Canada's Conservatives: Flashy announcements. Bold promises. No follow-through.

If they don't want to govern anymore, I know some folks that are willing to give it a shot. How does the saying go, Steve? Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

But back to the first story. It seems Conservative wunderkind Jim Prentice is losing the Conservatives some of the very few supporters their environmental platform has:

The delays are baffling supporters of the plan, including the Canadian Cancer Society, which is on a group Ottawa set up to advise it on the review.

"We don't know why the delays are continuing, and that's a concern," said Dan Demers, director of national public issues for the society.

He said the holdup affects "some chemicals we're very concerned about," including hexane, butane, and sulphuric acid.

Although environmentalists have pilloried the Conservatives over claims they aren't acting quickly enough on global warming, the government has won praise for its approach on toxic chemicals. Now, one prominent group that backed the government is reconsidering its position.

"If the government is now winging it when it comes to this supposedly clear procedure then we will be reassessing our support for this program," said Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence.

I thought Prentice was the one that knew what he was doing?

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