Cleaning Up Our Act
An Ottawa Citizen article suggests that Canada has fallen behind the United States in almost every aspect of environmental protection. Harsh words for a country whose citizens pride themselves on being a step ahead of the US on all matters liberal. We have gun control, we have socialized medicine and we like to think of ourselves as progressive, but ten years of Liberal Party government have, in my opinion, left Canada kowtowing to purely economic interests.
The Kyoto Protocol (now five years old) has still not been ratified as politicians across the country continue to say we should “study the matter more closely.” Apparently all those smog alert days this summer have limited oxygen flow to the brains of the federal cabinet since, according to the article, their very own Liberal caucus would like to ratify the Protocol, and opinion polls continually suggest that Canadians strongly back ratification. Yet big business lobby seems to have permanently shifted momentum on the issue to neutral. More feasibility studies, more economic viability reports, more Royal Commissions To Lose The Public’s Interest; yessir, that’s what we need.
Kyoto doesn’t even propose radical change, only cautious reduction in greenhouse gases. But then the governments of the land have done a fine job of doing nothing for animal and habitat protection, doing little to aid sewage and waste treatment, and ignoring the celtic knots of traffic that have formed in every major city. So why would we expect anything more when it comes to a major international protocol that every other first world nation besides the US has ratified?
I’d like to blame the politicians, and I will, but Canadians need to hold their elected representatives more accountable or else we are the ones who are responsible.
Previously: Praise Be to the Almighty Corn Dollies!
Subsequently: McMarketing
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