Early last year, after living abroad for many years I returned to live in Canada, settling in Ottawa. Ever since, life in Canada has been a true learning experience, especially with regard to political, social and environmental realities. While I am still deeply astonished how the antiquated first-past-the-post electoral system remains alive and distorts the meaning of democracy, and while I continue to wonder how child poverty persists in the country ranked number one in the UNDP world development report, environmental shortcomings in Canada are of special concern to me.
Looking at Canada from afar, it long seemed that the country was an intellectual leader in environmental matters and committed to practicing sound environmental practices. Last year when scientists discovered a hole in the North Pole’s ice cap, little was heard from Canada apart from a stubborn defending of CO2 sinks. During the environmental summit in The Hague, Canada stood firmly at the side of the world’s number one polluter and environmental degrader, the USA. Meanwhile, like their US-cousins, many Canadians were complaining about supposedly high fuel costs, while they never questioned why V8 pick-ups are needed to idle through doughnut drive-throughs.
When the E-Coli bacteria tragedy struck Walkerton, outrage was truly genuine. However, no thought seems to be lost on why Ontario allows lawns to be sprayed with pesticides/herbicides, which undoubtedly pollute groundwater and thus provides us with daily poison dosages. Hormone-loaded meat is part of the North-American staple diet, regardless of the potential health risks. Canada and in particular Ontario seem all too self-content with the scale of waste recycling practiced. A quick glance at common practices in many European countries would demonstrate how far behind Canada has fallen in environmental good practices.
As long as it is acceptable to Canadians that deposits on beverage bottles and cans are not mandatory but are levied only “where applicable”, we need not wonder that Government feels comfortable in the slow lane of environmental policy. Quality of life in Canada is already deteriorating, as we witness unchecked urban sprawl and struggle with rush hour gridlock yet fail to notice the absence of modern high-speed electric commuter trains. Increasingly outdoor life on the weekends turns out to be a ride from one shopping mall to the other. As more than half of our population lives in urban areas, exposure and experiences of our still enormous natural resources are diminishing. Thus, in my view Canadians are growing less conscious of environmental protection issues. On the road to on an online society fewer people are related to nature than are connected to the Internet.
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