Darrell Michaud

A CPAWS CHAMPION

Darrell Michaud, a dedicated CPAWS champion from Vancouver, took the time to write to the Prime Minister to share his concerns for Canada’s future. His letter below is an eloquent testimony to the urgent need for a sustainable economy and the protection of our natural heritage.

Dear Prime Minister: 

 I am concerned that your “Building Canada” programme is not innovative nor is it sustainable. 

Canada needs to move away from its dependence on the fossil fuel economy. 

We must innovate and move towards clean, renewable, and sustainable energy and building the systems to produce, store and distribute it. 

I understand this is a difficult challenge in a country mostly owned by Big Oil. 

But the truth is we are endangering our very survival by not investing in nature and the environment. 

 Nature and the environment are what sustains us and allows us to continue living on the planet. 

Without adequate protection and expanding natural areas in our country and oceans, we risk unbalancing the planet’s natural ability to keep us alive. We are moving towards a tipping point where natural systems will collapse in a chain reaction.  

For so long we have been stuck in an obsolete economic system which completely overlooks the real economic value of the benefits “freely” provided by nature and a healthy and well-functioning environment. 

We are running out of time.  

Now is NOT the time to double down on harmful gas, oil and coal extraction. 

Now is the time to wake up and be clever and inventive and forward-looking and create jobs and systems that will nurture the environment to take advantage of the huge value it represents in safeguarding our continued survival. 

 Sincerely, 

 Darrell Michaud, Vancouver