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When is Enough, Enough? Margery Moore's Tar Sand Journey, March 26th, 2010
on the Channel Ridge development! It's a commercial for property and the island where baby-boomers can retire. What if in Fort Chipewyan a new eco-resort was being planned where the baby boomers could live in relative seclusion, off the grid, and feed themselves in organic gardens surrounded by pristine lakes and forests? Well, duh, all of a sudden the current residents would not be alone in their fight to save their land and livelihoods since retired Torontonians and Calgarians would be putting down deposits on their future and doing everything they could to ensure that their investments were secure over the long term. So, I wonder, how is the preferences of our retired baby-boomers and tech sector entrepreneurs (like me) that can work from home dictating what environmental issues are important, and where they are important? Honestly, where the people go to live is where the money goes, and where stricter environmental laws eventually follow. The people of Fort Chipewyan, and many others in these remote area are losing out because they are far away and there is no relative value being placed by Canadians on their land, way of life and culture. It breaks my heart. They are just too far away for us to care. The number of people in place A should not dictate environmental policy in place B. I live on Salt Spring Island, and I head an NGO that fights for a better environment and better way of life for residents. But, I know in my heart that Salt Spring is privileged because of it's proximity to beauty, natural resources, commerce, airports and other amenities. If my NGO went away it would be readily replaced by 2 or 3 others immediately. How can we elevate the importance of sustainability for ALL small communities in the face of immense pressures like energy development? In a province where imminent domain laws might take away all of our hard fought environmental wins in the name of energy security, what creates the momentum for effective action that bleeds well beyond the safe shorelines of the Gulf Islands and toward the remote tundra communities that make up the fabric of our Canadian soul? How do we get these baby boomers to look past their investment portfolios, their paved driveways; beyond the view of the ocean and mountains from their 2nd floor balcony to the far north where equally beautiful environs exist but are slowly dying because they are simply remote? In a world of incredible inter-connectivity where we are all supposed to be in touch, something is still failing our native people, our ecosystems, all residents of small Northern communities. And I am part of the problem, I am a Gulf Islander who has found a piece of paradise and will fight tooth and nail at the expense of the rest of my beloved country to protect it. But, maybe today as I travel to the tar sands, and maybe Sunday when I return to Salt Spring, things will change. Maybe my story will actually mobilize the comfy eco-advocates in my community to look beyond the shoreline of their island paradise to where help is really needed.
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