To the Editor: I remember a Canada that was respected in the world as a fair minded compassionate nation. I remember a Canada that I was proud of saying I was a citizen of. A Canada who's citizenry would wear a Canadian flag when they travelled because the people of other nations would see it and treat us well because they had huge respect for Canada. That Canada is almost gone.
We've exchanged a reputation for being champions of human rites and humanitarianism, good stewards of the environment and a general fair mindedness in international affairs for a hard power swagger with fossil fuels in our gun belt. We're now a country that is all about digging and sucking stuff out of the ground and selling it - everything else be damned. Those that innovated and manufactured are becoming a dying breed as our focus on our natural resources causes our dollar to soar, making it increasingly difficult for small businesses and entrepreneurs to compete. Our finite natural resources are exploited for the quickest possible profit without regard for anything other than the right here and now.
Let's slow this down a bit and avoid another major boom and bust which we are surely heading for. The world is going in one direction with it's emphasis on moving away from a carbon based non renewable energy supply while Canada moves in the opposite directions with policies that look like something from the 1940s - subsidies for tar sands exploitation and no willing regard for the environment. The oil and coal won't last forever and there will be a time and maybe a time very soon when we will absolutely need to find alternatives.
Even if you don't believe it is an environmental concern, supply may soon not meet demand. We are doing little to nothing to prepare for that day. Nations that do will be much better prepared for the future - maybe not the future a year or two from now but the future of your children.
Losing our place on the UN security council and being an international pariah for our environmental policies might not mean too much now as cash for our resources are flowing in but there may be a day of reckoning very soon.
Lets get back to a time when we could take pride in being a fair minded compassionate nation. Right now perhaps that means a little less money in our pockets but this is something worth paying for. Pride in wealth goes nowhere and makes us ugly.
Greg Miller, Indian Head, SK.
