People have very much taken to heart the lesson of that one Bill Clinton campaign quote that "It's the economy, stupid."  And despite this being Canada, a totally different country than the one where Clinton was president, this is the sort of aphorism that passes for, ahem, wisdom.

Why bring this up?  Well, we're at the part of the pre-election season where the possible focus of the various party campaigns is beginning to bubble up.  And it seems like the Liberals might make climate change their central theme.

And, as if on cue, an internal Liberal report from the party's Ontario MPs on what their voters' priorities are has made its way into the public.  You'll never guess what kind of issues are at the top?  Yes, that's right, economic ones.

Things like the cost of prescription drugs, housing affordability, seniors being on low income, child care, and a skilled labour shortage.  The environment, that's seventh.  So the question hangs over everything, 'Why should the Liberals focus on the environment, when there are all these real people issues to talk about?'

Meanwhile, the eastern part of the country has been flooded out this spring, again.  And the western part of the country looks to be in for another summer of being burnt to ash.  The north, meanwhile, is melting.  Having large swaths of your country being destroyed every year or two seems like it might be bad for the economy.

Trudeau of course has a pretty mixed record on the environment.  While the carbon tax is an obviously good step, buying a pipeline for several billion dollars is — gosh, it's hard to put into polite language — extremely not.

Lest you get the impression I think Trudeau is the only problem, let me recommend you watch this clip of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh where he can't bring himself to just answer a goddamned question over whether he supports a natural gas project in B.C.

Asked three times, he repeated the same talking points talking up B.C.'s climate plan and talking down Trudeau's purchase of pipeline.

Which fine.  British Columbia might have a great, ambitious climate change plan, but goodness, maybe when you get the question a third time you should just say what you think rather than trying to avoid offending your provincial counterparts or your possible voters.

And he does have actual thoughts about the project.  A few days earlier, he was happy to express his doubts in the project.  Which led Trudeau to question his consistency on the environment.  Which, my dude, come on.

One of the lessons of the Trudeau government has been how ineffective and infuriating it is to have a government that can't pick a direction on policy.  Trudeau's own government has mastered the art of threading the needle with the right amount of care to piss off everyone.

So my advice to Singh is that Canada already has a federal party willing to try and have it as many ways as possible, that's the Liberal party.  The last thing we need in Ottawa is another pack of endless wafflers.  So when you're charting a course on an issue, go with your gut or your heart or your brain.  But listening to however many voices are in your ear telling you to take a position, but not one that will upset the NDP premier of B.C. is not going to work.

Anyway, is it a good idea to fight an election on the environment?  Well, you see, climate change and the environment is already the central focus of the federal campaign.

The entirety of their pitch for the last god-knows-how-long coming from the Conservatives has been about climate change.  Specifically, not doing anything about climate change.  Or maybe doing something, but not doing a carbon tax.  What ever you want to call their non-plan on climate change, their big giant issue is about climate change.

Tory Leader Andrew Scheer can't open his mouth without talking about how bad he thinks the carbon tax is.  That's fighting the election on climate change!  We're already there!

And it's not just federal Tories.  It's conservatives, big 'C' and small, all across the country.  Premiers in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have all pledged to oppose the carbon tax in one way or another.  Several provinces have taken the issue to court, trying to get the provisions that force a carbon tax on those provinces that don't want to start their own carbon pricing overturned.

So, all of the sudden hemming and hawing over whether it's a good idea to fight an election based on climate change is bullshit.

Fighting against climate change, you see, is an environmental issue that's for hippies and lefties and the activist class.  But fighting against fighting against climate change, that's about the economy.  That's a real people issue.

Meanwhile, the world gets hotter, things get worse, and time grows shorter.

The election's not until October.  It's going to be a very stupid five months until then.