The Toronto Star published an interesting article on Saturday that analyzes some of the long-term dynamics at play in terms of the response of Canadian voters and political parties to environmental issues.  Some good quotes:

If the Conservatives repeat past form, these measures [environment-related initiatives] will be mostly spin and little substance.

Other polls suggest 90 per cent of Canadians have some level of concern about climate change, and 71 per cent think Ottawa's approach is inadequate.

"What really drives people's concerns about the environment is not the incidents themselves but the sense that governments and industry aren't doing anything about them," McAllister says. "As they perceive (those in power) are not acting, they got pissed off."

I recommend giving the whole article a read ...