Caribous or no caribous

The Big Wild referred in its latest newsletter to two articles that kind of aim for opposite goals - one to protect the caribou, the other one to simply not care about caribou for industry's sake.
 
The first article from Globe and Mail reports on the newly established Boreal Business Forum that will try to ensure that the 21 member companies of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) take actions towards meeting the goals of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. The (unfortunately only) three-year-agreement was signed last year and aims to protect much needed habitat for caribou and other species as well as to implement more sustainable wood harvesting practices.   


The nine companies that make up the forum are consumers of the FPAC's products. They include newspaper and magazine publishers, office supply retailers, and consumer products companies such as Kimberly-Clark; Lowes, Rona Inc., Office Depot; Axel Springer AG, Time Inc., The Globe and Mail and Hearst Corp.


From the article: The signing of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement “represented a historic milestone in the environment-forestry debate. But like many agreements, signing is not the end point – it’s the start,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, director of environmental strategy at Office Depot. “As a business that uses forest products from Canada … we look forward to working with [the signatories] to achieve the desired outcomes of the agreement,” Mr. Siddiqui said.

Let's hope for the best. 

Meanwhile in Ontario, the Ministry of Natural Resources, lead by the Honourable Linda Jeffrey, announced plans to exempt all industries from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for most of the caribou habitat in Ontario. This proposal, when enacted, would effectively remove all legal protections under the ESA for caribou. The Ministry is jeopardizing the recovery of caribou in Ontario and failing to uphold its North American-leading Endangered Species Act.   

There is nothing Honourable about that intention! First of all there should not be any exemptions to this act because it beats its whole purpose. Second, the North American-leading act makes me roll my eyes. I do not know the act in word and detail but it makes it sound to me that it's kept rather vaguely so to ensure no endangered species gets overly protected. Considering North American recklessness with nature - in the name of progress and economic growth of course - I wonder how hard it can be to be leading in any environmental issue in North America. Yes, I'm sarcastic again. This woman ought to be fired. Ontarians will shriek now that they don't need more unemployment and I wonder if this step of the ministry has something to do with getting certain industries back on track. Quote: Ontario has spent the last three years and significant public resources to create massive exemptions for industry instead of implementing the ESA to protect species and using the tools contained in the Act to assist with industry compliance. The Big Wild was therefore so kind as to pre-write a letter to Linda Jeffrey and you should click and sign it, too, now.            

Bound to extinction: Alberta's caribou

Watching the documentation “Being Caribou” last autumn, sequences of both Bush presidents were shown with a 10 year lapse in between where both of them said that they did not care about protecting the caribou and their habitat, they only cared about the American people and jobs for these people. The issue was that the USA wanted to drill for oil in the calving grounds of the caribou in North-East Alaska. Why I am mentioning this? I think that attitude also applies to the Alberta government – it neither protects the caribou nor the caribou's habitat despite the fact that scientists have long realised and asked for a protection of both. You have to read the following article There's something fishy about Alberta's caribou because paragraph for paragraph it's a great article. It does mention an earlier article from February that did not go down well with politicians and the Edmonton Journal was apparently forced to apologize and  rephrase it. Here's the link:  Conservatives not conserving our caribou.

I don't think as long as this Conservative government exists anything in favour of the caribou is going to happen. It took 8 years to start protecting the grizzly bear in Alberta. The caribou might need to have more patience, or survival skill as for that. 

The first article clearly states that the reason why the government avoids protection of endangered species and their habitat is due to certain industries, obviously forestry and oil & gas, ever the same culprits. I watched The Story of Citizens United versus F.E.C. http://www.truth-out.org/story-citizens-united-v-fec68121 last night, a project from The Story of Stuff producer Annie Leonard. It's about the USA and how corporations and big industries happily pay money to political parties in order to get their way, no matter what the people want ("the people" must be those citizens that do not work for the corporations). I don't think it's quite that bad in Alberta (and Canada) but sure enough politicians listen too closely to industry ignoring what the people want and what independent scientists say. But then again, most people just can't be bothered to do anything about it  - so who do we want to blame if everything goes downhill from now on? Ourselves.

I also wonder: Who do politicians want to create jobs for when people suffer from floods and droughts & when people come down with cancers, pulmonary and heart diseases because all warnings about climate change, air and water pollution, toxins released by industry etc. have been ignored and denied; when people are so obese or ill that they can’t move? I don’t think they think that far! 

Here's why I started that blog

My first anniversary of living in Edmonton is coming up. It’s been a few years since I have lived in on and the same place for so long. And my conclusion is: I’m living in the wrong place! And I have had enough of it. For somebody like me who loves the outdoors, is young, healthy, and a recently-turned mum of a very cute, active little girl it’s difficult to live in Edmonton, oil-country Alberta, Canada. I have become an environmentalist.

After lots of bureaucratic hassles and constant head shaking about Alberta’s (provincial) and Canada’s (federal) politics, especially on environmental issues, writing letters to my mayor, city councillor, ministers and representatives of the provincial and federal government has become my hobby. It’s not a pleasant one but I believe nothing will change if nobody does anything. It’s time to act, it’s getting really late.     

I don’t want to raise my child in a country that refuses to sign any paper on the protection of the environment, whether that is in the form of a federal law or through the United Nations, a country that puts the economy above anything, where government is industry’s best friend, acts short-sighted and does not seem to realize that you can’t eat money and you can’t drink oil; a country that destroys vast stretches of beautiful countryside to dig up oil; that mines asbestos for the import to India; that allows tons of chemicals being used in everyday toiletries/cosmetics knowing that there are potentially harmful, a country that is so car-obsessed and has too many gas-guzzlers on the roads.

Watching “Being Caribou” last night, sequences of both Bush presidents were shown, with a 10 year lapse in between, where both of them said that they did not care about protecting the caribou and their habitat, they only cared about the American people and jobs for these people. The deal is that the US wants to drill for oil in the calving grounds of the caribou in North East Alaska. Why I am mentioning this? I think that attitude also applies to the Canadian government – not for the caribou itself which is surprisingly protected in Canada but for the habitat. But then it’s only an example. I wonder: Who do they want to create jobs for when people suffer from floods and droughts, when people come down with cancers, pulmonary and heart diseases because all warnings about climate change and pollution have been ignored and denied, when people are so obese that they can’t move? Suggestions, anyone? I don’t think they think that far! 

I hope this blog helps to let others know what's going wrong in Edmonton, in Alberta, in Canada and maybe I find some like-minded people willing to confront those in charge.