For our sins we at CDN are condemned to receive a great many Canadian government press releases. There is much to dislike about them generally, from their windy verbiage to their fiscal incontinence. But in the climate context, one of the things that flies out at us is the incredible number that very obviously involve jet travel. The claim of those in the political class to regard carbon as a menace to the planet is very hard to reconcile with the triviality of the causes that lead them to fly across continents and oceans (say, “Canada strengthens international cooperation during Secretary of State Sarai’s participation at Doha Forum”) or invite others to do so, as when “the Honourable Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade, met with Peter Burke, Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment” in Ottawa instead of telling him just to stay home and Google business opportunities here. Especially since they essentially meet the same people over and over again, a very ideologically homogeneous global political elite, what can they say that can possibly justify even the financial cost plain to all, let alone the climate cost vividly present to their tongues on most other occasions? Or in the case of our long-time climate-activist Prime Minister, what can justify taking a flight to watch … not even a soccer game, but the drawing of lots in Washington for matchups in a soccer tournament next year? We might start to believe in the climate crisis when the people who keep lecturing us about it start to act as if they believe in it too.

No really. They don’t slink about reluctantly, they heartily boast of the pointlessness of their meetings. For instance “Minister LeBlanc concludes visit to Mexico strengthening trade and diplomatic relations”. At least they’ve dropped the once-chronic irritating “successful visit” in every heading though not the other boilerplate about “a longstanding partnership built on strong people-to-people, economic and cultural ties.” But it gets worse, and not just the blather that:

“Minister LeBlanc met with his counterpart, Secretary of the Economy Marcelo Ebrard, to strengthen trade and investment ties and advance key priorities, including under the Prosperity pillar of the CMAP…. These exchanges advanced Canada’s trade diversification objectives by strengthening economic ties and highlighting new trade opportunities.”

See, it turns out “This visit laid the groundwork for the upcoming Team Canada Trade Mission to Mexico Minister LeBlanc will lead in February 2026” so the same people will fly back again, coincidentally right smack in the middle of Canadian winter, on your dime, to say all the same stuff again. Even if it meant anything it would be a waste.

Then there’s “Minister Anand meets with NATO Secretary General Rutte” in Brussels “on the margins of the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs.” Why Canadian government comms are now obsessed with this “on the margins” business is a mystery, unless it’s because we’re generally not welcome in the business portions given our frivolity on defence and much else besides. But what can Ms. Anand and Mr. Rutte have to say to one another about Canada’s feeble defence spending and establishment, the need to stand with Ukraine verbally, “the importance of Arctic security to Alliance security” or anything else that they have not said in their previous seven or eight meetings?

Again it gets worse, because “Minister Anand invited Secretary General Rutte to visit Canada’s Arctic to experience the unique scale and challenges of the task and how Canada is doing the job.” So more jet travel and more repetition.

Now to be sure some of it is other people’s faults. Like this headline “Energy minister apologizes after suggesting Coastal First Nations could meet by Zoom over pipeline concerns”. The issue being that a chief wasn’t able to jump on a jet aeroplane on short notice and fly to Vancouver to say all the same stuff again and then fly back. The chief in question:

“called the minister’s comments ‘deeply disrespectful,’ saying they show ‘a complete lack of understanding of our communities.’”

What, including the fact that they’re somewhat remote and it’s great that we have teleconferencing? Or that they’re easily offended? Or that the ways of the ancestors involved flight not webcams? But still, that’s a specially sensitive Canadian issue. What of the rest of this stuff?

For instance “The Prime Minister will meet with the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Tony Wakeham”. Boooooring. But one of them had to fly (in this case the premier) because they couldn’t or wouldn’t Zoom or, wonders of the steam age, discuss an issue by telephone. And what has either to say to the other that would even justify a phone call? (Mind you that technology doesn’t offer a “Pooled photo opportunity”, vital in case journalists have forgotten what one or both of them look like.

Now to be fair there was also “Prime Minister Carney participates in a virtual meeting in support of Ukraine” where Carbon Carney himself, whose constant intercontinental travel sets a bad example for his subordinates, actually said the same stuff to the same people remotely. Even then we wonder whether it really is a good use of the time of the heads of four major Western countries, three of whom “co-chaired” the meeting, too big a job for one man we suppose, plus the President of Ukraine and the American secretary of state, to babble thusly:

“Leaders discussed ongoing efforts to establish a framework for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, noting that some issues remain to be resolved.”

Not, NB, that some issues were solved in the gathering. It just went yup, same old same old, wish Putin would retire or die or something but no sign of it. Including this somnabulance:

“The Prime Minister underlined Canada’s continued support for Ukraine and reaffirmed Canada’s willingness to contribute to the success of the peace process in collaboration with key partners.”

At least no carbon atoms were released from captivity for that polysyllabic nothingness. But what’s the point when, speaking of trailing clouds of carbon, just two days earlier, Carney and Zelenskyy had met in person in… Ukraine? No. Canada? Heck no. South Africa where (wait for it):

“The Prime Minister affirmed Canada’s willingness to contribute to the success of peace negotiations, in collaboration with key partners. In this respect, the two leaders welcomed the meeting of national security advisors taking place today in Geneva, as well as the upcoming virtual meeting of the Coalition of the Willing. The Prime Minister and the President agreed to remain in close and regular contact.”

So a whole lot of other people flew to Switzerland to mouth the same platitudes that had just been mouthed in Johannesburg and were about to be mouthed into microphones. Carney, also, had just flown to Abu Dhabi right after the Prime Minister of Sweden had flown to Ottawa to:

“recognise the vital contributions and rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic in keeping with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and international law… affirm our strong commitment to democracy and multilateralism, and to upholding human rights, including gender equality, the rule of law and the rules-based international order and trade system… foster sustainable economic development and create jobs” and do some vague thing about “the increasing impact of climate change and the corresponding need for higher global climate ambition” and, duh, “reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”

After getting all that done what, you may also ask, was the Prime Minister doing in South Africa anyway? What was left to do, or say? Well, see:

“Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the Prime Minister of Jamaica and Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Andrew Holness, on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.”

There’s that weird “on the margins” again. What, while lining up for soy latte? And they went blah blah blah like the same politicians and their enormous staffs who had flown there and would soon fly somewhere else. Including “The leaders discussed climate-resilient reconstruction funding and mechanisms to accelerate assistance.”

Not “created” or anything of that sort. They just talked vaguely about how it would be swell if some vague stuff happened, especially if money also fell from the sky. Oh, and (you’ll never guess) “Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Holness agreed to remain in contact.”

Right. They could exchange email. Written by a bot or the PR team that, we fear, travelled with him.

To be fair, in Johannesburg you got a significant multiple of nothing, since he also met with Kier Starmer “on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa” (where he also met the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa in what appear to have been remarkably long coffee lines, and they too “agreed to remain in close contact”, and where he also met the Chancellor of Germany and they “reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine” right before doing it again two days later). And Carney and Starmer got to say whatever they have not already said to one another in their last dozen or so meetings that was worth saying, or wasn’t, or they already said anyway. And there’s more. You also get:

“Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Prime Minister congratulated the President on hosting a successful COP30 Summit and outlined Canada’s new climate competitiveness strategy to catalyse low-carbon investment and reduce emissions.”

In the first place, it’s a lie, since the COP30 Summit was a debacle not a success. In the second, if you’re looking for ways to reduce emissions we have a suggestion. Stay home on the margins of a cabinet meeting and catalyse some deficit reduction.

Oh, and speaking of remote digital communication, we also get:

“The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, will hold a media callback during her visit to the Republic of Korea and Japan.”

So that one turned out to be by “teleconference” not mouldy old telephone. But even if the media weren’t flying about, she was. And what is the Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, a ludicrous cabinet post in any case with a ludicrous incumbent, doing in Korea and Japan? Other than spewing “carbon pollution” with smug satisfaction?

You’re begging us to stop. And we will, after noting that all those examples were from a recent two-week period and that we had 43 more of them (no, really) stretching back only to mid-October. And observing that meetings are generally not a form of activity but a substitute for it or even an impediment to it. Not that we’re wild about what these people get done when they actually do go to the office, to be sure. But surely there’s staggering hypocrisy in staging a decade-long crusade to cut carbon emissions while flying without hesitation to, in the old phrase, attend the opening of an envelope and shake hands with a couch.

Wherever you live, if you act sufficiently badly that you too will be subjected to an endless stream of government press releases, we confidently wager that you’ll find that the climate-obsessed ruling class is also in the habit of taking plane flights non-stop, often for brief visits to unimportant events at which they meet the same people and say the same clichés. Almost as if they were vacuous.