By John Bacher
The electorate is catching up to the reality of climate change in Canada with a speed that should encourage the most pessimistic about the reality of human sin.
2013 flood in Calgary Alberta area wreaks devastating havoc on people and property.
While Pope Francis, in his recent Encyclical letter “Laudato S,i” recognized that; “the climate is a common good, belonging to us all and meant for all”, many despair of voters sharing his understanding that it is imperiled “mainly as a result of human activity.” This breakthrough to higher consciousness was witnessed earlier this year in Canada’s most oil rich province when voters elected Rachel Notley to be Alberta’s Premier.
In “Laudato Si” and in much public discourse the impact of climate change is seen as impacting most heavily on the poor and vulnerable in low income nations. Pope Francis, for instance, has deplored how; “there has been a tragic rise in the number of migrants seeking to flee from the growing poverty caused by environmental degradation.”
In contrast to that, the Alberta floods of 2013 hit some of the world’s most affluent communities and shook up public opinion. Before the disaster, voters impacted by it had been steadfast supporters of the long governing Progressive Conservative Party in Alberta.
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada the 2013 Alberta floods caused $1.7 billion in damage. The Bureau ranked it as the worst disaster in Canadian history. Five people died and 100,000 were displaced. The core of Calgary’s business district was hit by the floods, impacting 350,000 workers.
The City of Canmore was cut off from road access by the flooding of Cougar Creek, which also swept away several homes. One of the most terrifying incidents was the collapse of Bonnybrook Bridge, which caused a train to derail while carrying hazardous chemicals.
Until the floods hit, Rachel Notley and her New Democratic Party, winner of the 2015 election, had never won a seat in Calgary. The party’s support had been confined to Edmonton and northern Alberta. Despite this, the NDP was able to win the majority of Calgary seats after the flood.
Alberta voters responded well to the NDP’s carefully crafted climate change policy platform. It was unusually daring since while governments elsewhere have imposed carbon taxes, such measures are not usually part of election platforms.
The NDP’s platform copied a similar measure long in place in British Columbia and its implementation will help the now governing party carry out another important plank in its climate change policy – the closure of Alberta’s coal fired electrical generating plants by 2030.
In Canada’s upcoming federal election, all parties should look at Alberta’s history and strategies to reduce human causes of climate change. They should examine the report from Canadian academic researchers known as “Sustainable Canada Dialogues.” It is full of positive ways to realize Pope Francis’ call “to develop policies so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be dramatically reduced.”
One of the basic steps called for in Sustainable Canada Dialogues is the federal government’s assistance in promoting better east-west electrical transmission grids. Doing so would help the new Alberta government speed up its timetable for closing down coal burning plants. This can also be helped by purchasing clean hydro electrically generated in British Columbia.
Similar federally financed improvements could help Saskatchewan obtain clean power from Manitoba. Federal parties that ignore such reasonable solutions may very well suffer in the upcoming fall election.
John Bacher has a doctorate degree in history from McMaster University and is the author of three books; “Keeping to the Marketplace: The Evolution of Canadian Housing Policy.” (1995), “Petrotyranny” which deals with the negative connections between oil, war and dictatorship (2000), and “Two Billion Trees and Counting: The Legacy of Edmund Zavitz” (2011). A Niagara, Ontario resident, John Bacher has also written extensively environmental protection policy through articles published by the Ontario Forest History Society, in its journal Forestry and he has been a long-time advocate for green spaces in the Niagara region.
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As you stated Jimmy Carter was far ahead of his time when it came to realizing the disastrous effect Carbon based energy was have on the climate and he made moves to initiate a plan of action…He had a huge solar panel project set up in one of the Central States and he had Solar panel erected on the Roof of the White House. All of this was eliminated quickly when Reagan came into office probably under the direction of the Corporate energy giants…..Recently a huge piece of Ice broke off from a glacier in Greenland, this piece was so big it was said it could completely cover Manhattan to a depth of 30 feet. In a recent documentary involving Greenland it was reported that if just the ice covering Greenland completely melted the result in the rising depth of water was akin to the that related in the work and warnings of Al Gore.
Isn’t it amazing the “Bottom Line on a Profit and Loss Statement” supersedes the dire reality of death and the probability of an end to life on Earth…….ALL……..because of a “Creed of Greed and Entitlement” the result of which makes the great plagues of the past seem like a common cold in comparison…….God Bless this Earth…….In my Opinion it should be “God “HELP” this earth”…….for…………. they do know what they do but are too set in their arrogance and ignorance to stop.
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There should be a lot of “game changers” for Canadians but we are, as a whole, too lackadaisical to bother knowing or caring until these things bite us in the butt and then it’s too late. You can’t soar like an eagle when you flock with turkeys. We get the governments we deserve.
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