I couldn’t attend Gwynne Dyer’s talk in Whitehorse the other day, but I am familiar with his book Climate Wars, in which he paints a grim picture of conflict and crisis for the Earth’s people who, in the worst-case scenario, don’t do enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stave off temperature increase.
Canada’s lack of action - and it’s shaming at international conferences - under successive Liberal and Conservative regimes in Ottawa, means Canada has been part of the problem that Dyer writes.
But there is hope for Canada to resuscitate its tarnished reputation on this file, and do the right thing, but it requires that Canadians vote for change.
The New Democrats wrote Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. It would have establishing real targets for greenhouse gas reductions based on science.
It passed the House of Commons. Then it was killed by the Conservative Party’s unelected senators - including Yukon’s very own Danny Lang - when Liberal senators went for a coffee break.
On May 2, if we care about climate change and creating a better future, let’s remember all the years of inaction, culminating in the Senate’s undemocratic move.
Which bring me back to the hopeful part.
We actually have a choice this election. Jack Layton and the NDP - the folks who brought in Bill C-311 - are riding high in the polls and are capturing the Canadian public’s desire for a real change.
We have a choice to become a leader, not a pariah, on climate change - let’s not blow it.
Drew Whittaker
Marsh Lake, Yukon