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Canada is one of the world’s most prosperous and successful democracies. Thanks to our natural wealth, high levels of education and social harmony, Canada has an unparalleled opportunity to build its future prosperity on a foundation of environmental sustainability and respect for the Earth.
As Canadians, we take pride in our vast wild spaces, highly liveable cities and towns, our strong tradition of collective action on issues like health care, and our role in the global community. But Canadians are increasingly concerned that this tremendous legacy is slipping through our fingers as air and water quality deteriorate, wild places are lost to relentless resource extraction, and our national efforts to address the most critical issue of our time, global warming, sputter even as we race toward the brink of catastrophic climate change.
In a recent Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study that examined 25 key environmental indicators, Canada ranked 28th out of 29 developed nations. During the international climate change negotiations in Bali, Indonesia in December 2007, Canada and the United States jointly received the “Colossal Fossil” award as the countries that garnered the largest number of “fossil of the day” awards – awards presented to the countries that did the most to block progress at the talks.
Clearly, Canada needs to urgently address its failing efforts to protect its massive -- and massively important -- piece of the planet.
This document sets out a roadmap for restoring a sense of purpose and direction to our environmental protection efforts. It reflects the best thinking of the people who have made it their job to understand how we can live in greater harmony with the Earth. It lists more than 30 important ideas for immediate policy actions that can steer our society toward a more sustainable and healthier future. But most of all, it is a call for a new approach that recognizes that our economic well-being is not at odds with protecting our environment, but is, rather, deeply dependent on our efforts to safeguard our natural advantages and to ensure a stable climate.
Canada is among the world's wealthiest countries, in terms of traditional GDP, natural capital, and individual quality of life. That means we have no excuse for not being among the best in the world when it comes to ensuring that our prosperity does not come at the expense of damaging our planet's life support systems: clean air, clean water and healthy ecosystems. As a country, we need to demonstrate in a much more convincing way that we are up to the challenge posed by global-scale threats like global warming.
Canadians want to see their country live up to its international commitments, whether it is protecting biodiversity or acting to dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. They want to see their country transformed from a paper tiger – quick to sign agreements, but slow to implement solutions – into an action hero. They want to take pride in a country that has the foresight to protect its globally important forests, oceans and waterways. They want to be able to point to growing innovation and leadership in reducing our climate and air impact. And most of all, they want their children, and their children’s grandchildren, to inherit a world they can live with.
This is how we can achieve these goals.
Download the Full Report brochure in PDF format. (Download PDF viewer)
High resolution suitable for printing.