With the federal election looming at the end of this month, many Canadians are thinking of voting like they think of taking up jogging. A nice idea, but probably not gonna happen. This apathy might go some way towards explaining why environmental issues have fallen off the political radar screen for Calgarians. As we roll in the contentment of a booming economy, we’re still seeking a greater tax-free bang for our buck. Calgary’s political force-du-jour, the Canadian Alliance, doesn’t even mention the environment on their Web site, let alone in their platform. This absence reflects a short-sighted general malaise that permeates the national electorate.
During the summer, it was announced that the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic is now over three times the size of Canada, the largest it has ever been. Another hole has appeared over the North Pole and others will now periodically make appearances over the rest of the planet as well. Apparently, the value of the ozone layer to life on Earth is a debatable point. However, it does protect us from cancer-causing ultra-violet radiation so we don’t die covered in melanoma with skin weathered more than Joe Clark’s career. In Queensland, Australia, the least ozone-protected portion of the least ozone-protected country in the world, three out of four people are expected to get some form of skin cancer, as compared to one in 75 for the still ozone-covered United States. But the savvy Canadian voter can’t be swayed from the "issues." There are tax cuts to be had and SUVs to be bought; let the kids worry about that little ozone thing.
The world is seeing unprecedented levels of economic growth globally, and Canadians are reaping the profits as much as anyone. But rather than turning our concerns towards the future and paying the real cost of our consumption habits, Canadians are trying to grab bigger pieces of the money pie to blow on Pokemon, popstars and big screen TVs–a society of myopic never-satisfied "haves."
Lower taxes should be the low-man on the economic concerns totem-pole. Paying down the debt is a bigger priority for economic health, and more and better education opportunities for our debt-strapped students will provide a better future for Canadians by giving us an opportunity to ride the high-tech wave to greater prosperity.
Some forms of high-tech industry bring the added bonus of reducing the burden on the environment. By positioning ourselves on the cutting edge of research and development we ensure ourselves a future instead of being left in the dust when the inevitable changes come. Fossil fuels are the wave of yesterday and five years from now, but not forever, and a visionary government would stimulate alternative energy research to allow Canada and Alberta to become an alternative energy leader. The wells and demand are going to dry up and threaten to bury our economy with the same Jurassic tar sands that are currently filling local coffers.
The end result of these concerns is to cast a vote that says the environment and future matter. That means voting Green, NDP or for the appropriate independent candidate. They won’t get in, but when the votes are counted and some support has been whittled away from the majors they might get the message that there’s more to the issues than how many chickens you can promise to hatch in your first term in office.