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The federal government is receiving a loud, public request this week that it rejoin the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

The week was scarcely half over by the time three provincial governments or their advisors had weighed in on Canada’s emerging climate strategy. The stark differences in approach—from a visionary, ambitious program in Ontario, to outright climate denial in Saskatchewan—point to the challenges ahead in the effort to forge an effective, pan-Canadian response to climate change.

Right now, tens of thousands of people from Fort McMurray and surrounding communities have fled the raging fires overtaking and threatening their neighbourhoods, their homes, their treasured keepsakes and memories, and their most basic sense of safety.

For a chilling view of Canada’s possible future, look no farther than the shamelessly brazen, $15-billion lawsuit that TransCanada Corporation launched against the United States government, after President Barack Obama had the temerity to refuse a permit for the company’s controversial Keystone XL pipeline.