Environmental Perspective

or, "What I said to Stephen Harper"

I believe that it is the responsibility of our federal elected officials to shape the actions of Canada and to project the best the Canada has to offer. Canada cannot be content to follow the lead of other nations or interest groups. This information age, an age of ideas and ideologies, can be influenced by a people that firmly believe in an ideal. Here, I posit that Canada's international ideal be "the living Earth."

The living Earth is an idea. It marries human systems and processes to natural systems a processes. To some this is regarded as environmentalism, to others it is true-cost economics, to still others it is common sense. As cells live within a body, so too do living humans inhabit the Earth. Damage done to the body affects the cells within. Damage done to the Earth affects the humans within. Only a few types of cells can be employed to repair the body, but, all humans can assist in repairing the Earth. There is a caveat, we must slow or stop the damage being done.

As Canadians, we can promote that the benefits of a healthy environment is the first step in this repair process. Economics, often touted as the first victim of environmentalism, must simply adjust to the new demands of human respect for a living Earth.

Other considerations such as universal human rights; the abolition of warfare; an end to "kill-switch" weapons that are nuclear, chemical, biological, explosive, or projectile in nature; can be undertaken. They will not happen overnight, but, in a healthy mental and physical environment, such things can take shape.

A green revolution must take place in this country, one that sets an example to the rest of the world. Canada is, despite the misadventure in Afghanistan and our seat within the G8, respected in the international community. Canada boasts vast natural resources. Our population and economic might may be lesser than some of our peers, but, it makes us more flexible in exploration of a sustainable future. We are a hardy people, a young nation that appreciates the outdoors. Let us create the future that the world needs.