How Do We Make Peace With Nature?

How Do We Make Peace With Nature?

I find myself increasingly drawn to the United Nations’ framing of our current ­situation as being at war with nature, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres put it in a landmark speech at Columbia University in December 2020. For an organization that is, after all, intended to be the world’s ­peacekeeper, the response was obvious: “Making peace with nature is the defining task of the 21st century,” Guterres said.

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The Right to a Healthy Environment is a Vital Election Issue

The Right to a Healthy Environment is a Vital Election Issue

Last week, I noted that none of the main ­parties — those likely to form the next government — have yet recognized and accepted the scale of the global ecological crises we face, to which Canada contributes disproportionately. Nor have they ­recognized the implications for Canadians and the rest of humanity, including the threat these ­crises pose to our human rights.

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How Much Is Enough?

How Much Is Enough?

This recent article in Yes! Magazine is very timely, as is the invitation to the event on Sept 9th. Stan Cox’s proposal for achieving fair shares for all through rationing managed by local governance is, to say the least, provocative in our current society... Read more
An Open Letter from John Cashore to Premier Horgan

An Open Letter from John Cashore to Premier Horgan

John Cashore spent 15 years as the elected MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville, serving as Minister of Environment (1991-1993), Aboriginal Affairs (1993-1998), Labour (1997-1998), and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier (2000-2001). He introduced the “Zero AOX” pulp pollution regulation requiring pulp mills to completely eliminate their organochlorine discharges and has been a tireless advocate for the environment.

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A Message from the Dean of UBC on Old-Growth Forests in BC

A Message from the Dean of UBC on Old-Growth Forests in BC

Much has been made about the future of old-growth forests in British Columbia. Global media interest is intense, partly because of the coverage of protestors being arrested while demonstrating against the logging of old-growth on southern Vancouver Island. These arrests were made not for demonstrating, which in British Columbia is generally a lawful activity, but for violating an injunction issued by the British Columbia legal system.

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Sorry About the Earth, but We Need to Make Money

Sorry About the Earth, but We Need to Make Money

Why on Earth are we spending scarce public resources to prop up the fossil-fuel industries that are the underlying cause of the climate emergency and that we need to wind down? I could understand if the funds were being used to ­transition those industries and their employees into clean and renewable energy production. But too often, they are used to support business as usual.

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Fossil Fuels are Killing Us – Write to Your Local Paper

Fossil Fuels are Killing Us – Write to Your Local Paper

Starting Friday June 25, the West Coast saw a record-breaking heatwave. Hundreds of people — mostly seniors and people with chronic illnesses — passed away in the following week due to the heat. Wildfire reduced Lytton, a village that reached close to 50°C, to ashes the very next day. Our hearts are heavy thinking of all those who’ve lost loved ones or cherished places.

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Will We Ever Learn?

Will We Ever Learn?

Will we ever learn? The pandemic is giving us mixed signals. As England’s Prime Minister tells us to forget face masks and social distancing for the good of his voting base, relying on 55% double vaccinated population, the nation is obsessed with Euro football... Read more
Trees Pay Decades of Dividends

Trees Pay Decades of Dividends

There is a vestigial image of Canada – a raw and vast land of forests, lakes and mountains. Forests, most of all. At Confederation, 154 years ago, this was true for most people. Fewer than one in five lived in a city. At the start of the Second World War, close to half the population still lived in rural areas. But this changed rapidly thereafter.

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