“If you look at the five major issues Harper raised in his campaign, nothing involved the environment. I think, ideologically, the environment has never been part of their platform. There is no track record with the Harper government caring about the environment. We have to put it back on the agenda.”
A recently released poll from Angus Reid found that the environment is the number one concern for Canadians and many want action. Suzuki says the government must meet the terms of the Kyoto Accord, but the Conservative plan would only achieve the targets by 2025--13 years too late.
“We’ve already put the environment on the agenda. The only reason Harper and Ambrose put Baird in and are trying to come up with what they think is a good plan, is because the Canadian public has said ‘This is important’. If it wasn’t for that there would have been nothing!” said Suzuki. “ So we put it there and now we have to keep it on the agenda. We have an election coming up. We just have to say—this is a high priority--and we want them to do something. And after the election we need to keep up the pressure.”
Shortly afterwards, Suzuki went on to address an audience of 800 people at the Green Living Show about the urgent need to act. “This is the defining moment. Time is running out. Imagine where we would be if we had done something back in 1988. We would be so far past the Kyoto accord. We would be making money. We would be healthier and the atmosphere would be in better condition. We cannot let another decade go by.”
Suzuki has been a forerunner in the environmental movement for over 30 years. He’s been working on a sustainable plan internationally and nationally through The David Suzuki Foundation. Over 310,000 Canadians have participated in the Nature Challenge, which offers solutions for reducing our footprint on the environment.
Green Living Network
