Pt 1: UN Climate Change Conference - The United Nations Climate Change conference is wrapping up today in Poznan, Poland. And Canada has been taking a bit of a beating over our position on climate change. South Africa's Environment Minister specifically named Canada as one of just four countries that have not issued "credible and ambitious" targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more here

Pt 2: Harper's Head- We started this segment with a clip of Stephen Harper, fighting for his political life on the floor of the House of Commons just a few short weeks ago. Since then, there's been a lot of speculation about which Stephen Harper Canadians should expect to see when Parliament resumes in the New Year ... the confrontational leader who used every means at his disposal to hang on to power. Or a soft-spoken conciliator with an olive branch for the opposition.

Read more here

Pt 3: Contraceptive Injections - Across England, the rate of teen pregnancies is soaring. It's now the highest in Western Europe. And to combat the problem, the British Government is pressing local health authorities and school-based clinics to give long-acting contraceptive injections or Deppo Provera to girls as young as 13.

Read more here

---

Today's guest host was Jim Brown from Calgary.

It's Friday, December 12th.

Stephen Harper is hoping to appoint 18 new Senators before the end of 2008.

Currently, and if the opposition tries to hold that up, he'll prorogue 2009.

This is The Current.

UN Climate Change Conference

The United Nations Climate Change conference is wrapping up today in Poznan, Poland. And Canada has been taking a bit of a beating over our position on climate change. South Africa's Environment Minister specifically named Canada as one of just four countries that have not issued "credible and ambitious" targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The head of the French delegation -- who also represents the European Union -- has expressed the same concern. And a growing list of Canadian environmentalists and climate change scientists have provided a chorus of criticism. Now, Canada was still at the table as the talks continued though the night and 190 countries all tried to agree on a draft treaty for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Etienne Leblanc has been covering the meetings. He's Radio-Canada's environmental reporter and he was in Poznan, Poland.

UN Climate Change Conference - Jim Prentice

Jim Prentice is Canada's Environment Minister. He's at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland.

UN Climate Change Conference - Bramley

For his thoughts on the merits of Canada's position at the talks, we were joined by Matthew Bramley. He's the Director of the Climate Change Program at the Pembina Institute. And he was at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland as well.

 

Listen to Part One:

 

Harper's Head - Profile

We started this segment with a clip of Stephen Harper, fighting for his political life on the floor of the House of Commons just a few short weeks ago. Since then, there's been a lot of speculation about which Stephen Harper Canadians should expect to see when Parliament resumes in the New Year ... the confrontational leader who used every means at his disposal to hang on to power. Or a soft-spoken conciliator with an olive branch for the opposition.

Surprisingly, the answer to that question may lie in the research of an American academic. Neal Carter is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Saint Bonaventure University. He's also the author of Investigating Stephen Harper: Personality at a Distance Profile and he was in Olean, New York.

Harper's Head - Psychology

And his analysis leads us to another, pressing question. What goes into making a successful leader? Stephen Reicher has spent a lot of time thinking about that. He's the head of the Department of Psychology at St. Andrews University. He's also a co-author of The New Psychology of Leadership, which appeared last year in Scientific American. He was in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Music Bridge

Artist: Doug Cox and Salil Bhatt
CD: "Slide to Freedom"
Cut: CD8 "Meeting by the Liver"
Label: Northern Blues
Spine #: NBM0039

 

Listen to Part Two:

 

Contraceptive Injections - UK Health

Across England, the rate of teen pregnancies is soaring. It's now the highest in Western Europe. And to combat the problem, the British Government is pressing local health authorities and school-based clinics to give long-acting contraceptive injections or Deppo Provera to girls as young as 13.

The injections prevent pregnancy for about three months. And in England, they may be administered without parental consent. Critics of the strategy say it will mean more promiscuity and higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases.

But others are standing behind the idea. Anne Colquhoun is the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy Co-ordinator in Bristol, England ... one of the so-called "hotspots" being targeted by the government campaign. She was in Bristol England.

Contraceptive Injections - Critic

But not everyone is convinced that this is the right approach. Doctor Hans Christian Raabe is a General Practitioner and a Medical Co-ordinator with the Council for Health and Wholeness in Manchester, England.

Contraceptive Injections - Columnist

Here in Canada, the Federal Government doesn't promote the use of Depo Provera to prevent teen pregnancies. But girls as young as 13 may receive the long-acting contraceptive injection without parental consent. Although the clinics The Current spoke to say it is rarely used on young teenaged girls.

The Current also contacted Pfizer, the company that makes Depo Provera in Canada. A representative of the company said that Pfizer does not have a policy about the appropriate age for girls to begin using Depo Provera. Pfizer also gave us the following statement.

"Depo Provera should be used as a birth control method or endometrial treatment only if other treatments have been considered to be unsuitable or unacceptable, and should be used for the shortest period of time possible."

So for her take on all this, we were joined by Josey Vogels. She's a syndicated sex columnist and author. She also hosted Between You and Me, CBC Radio's show about sex and relationships. And she was in Bancroft, Ontario.

Last Word

Later today on CBC Radio One, it's The Point ... and host Aamer Haleem will help you sort through the real connections between the weather and your health. That's The Point at 2 o'clock -- 2:30 in Newfoundland and Labrador. And tonight at 10 o'clock on CBC Television, The National will show you how to cut back on your holiday expenses and experience the joy of spending less.

Before we go... for many years, the Oxford Junior Dictionary has targeted young children -- seven year olds and up -- with the goal of introducing them to the English language and teaching them how to use a dictionary.

'But a number of Canadians are taking issue with the latest edition. Gone are words like acorn, butter cup and gerbil -- words associated with animals and nature -- only to be replaced by words like blog, voicemail and MP3. Robert Bateman -- the celebrated Canadian painter and conservationist -- says that sends the wrong message to kids -- that nature isn't important. We gave him the last word.

 

Listen to Part Three: