To the editor,
The recent News editorial about the lease granted to Corridor Resources to explore for oil and gas in the Gulf of St Lawrence close to the Magdalen Islands is spot on when it calls the decision 'mind boggling.' We put ourselves and our planet at risk when we don't realize that fiascos such as British Petroleum's Deep Water Horizon blowout are ultimately and intimately relevant to us.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientists, amongst others, have called for a moratorium on oil and gas development in the Gulf of St Lawrence for decades now. Giving such a lease as has been given to Corridor Resources is anti-democratic, anti-scientific, and ignores the imperative to seek a different mindset altogether. It is anti-democratic because it flies in the face of what we know to be in the best interests of our planet and its inhabitants. There is no 'Planet B'. It is anti-scientific because it is blatantly clear that our wanton love affair with oil must cease.
Concerted efforts must be made to change our behaviours such that we live within the permissible biological parameters of our planet. It is at our peril that we ignore the imperative to seek sustainable and earth-friendly alternatives.
So, where do we go from here? According to Danielle Goldfarb of the International Investment Centre at the Conference Board of Canada," Canadian governments will need to send clear climate policy signals and commit to sustained public investments in research and development in climate-friendly technologies and related services."
It is unclear to me how this will be taken on by a prime minister who still insists that there is no climate issue. This also begs the question as to why he is launching a survey to see what we, the great unwashed, think about green energy! Does he not know? Must he spend $240,000 of our tax dollars to find out?
The Conference Board of Canada also tells us that Canada has been absent in the global trade opportunities that exist in "climate-friendly technologies." Contrast this with a growth in world trade in climate-friendly technologies by 10 per cent, per year between 2002 and 2008, in Europe and Asia. What a lost economic opportunity!
This particular government has squandered so much of our past by weakening the rail system, the postal system, public radio and television and now even the census, to name but a few. Now they are also hobbling our future. I blame not only the 'Conservatives' but all members of Parliament who have allowed this minority government to do away with due process when it comes to rules of law and democratic principles. We elected a government of representatives. They must get on with the job we have bequeathed them when we voted for them. The adolescent party politics that have been played by party leaders is unconscionable. They will be remembered by their abject negligence of duty to our people, our country and our world.
There is no 'Planet B'. The sooner we all recognize this the better our hope for a future.
Céline Papillon
Green Party Candidate,
Central Nova
