Once Europeans settled in Canada, we were established as a colony providing goods to the mother country. We have continued in this vein selling raw lumber, fish, oil and gas to markets around the world.
The exploitation of our natural resources continues today without concern for the well-being of First Nations, our lakes, oceans, air and soil. Thus, we find ourselves in a climate emergency/crisis.
After the free trade agreement was developed, promoted and implemented by the Conservative government under the leadership of prime minister Brian Mulroney, much of our manufacturing sector was dismantled as capitalists were able to find cheaper labour elsewhere. Sadly, capitalists owning business in other countries were less constrained by environmental protections or by the need to provide fair treatment of workers.
These freedoms/advantages proved disastrous for the environmental well-being of the countries whose natural resources they exploited. Many countries, including Canada, measure their economic worth as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the definition of which is the total market value of the goods and services produced by a country’s economy during a specified period of time. It includes all final goods and services.
Since some importance is attached to this calculation, corporations, economists, advertisers and politicians indoctrinate and brainwash citizens to be happy little consumers. The justification for this constant and unavoidable indoctrination is a healthier GDP and continued economic growth. This outcome must be precarious considering the quantity of imported goods we consume from China and other countries.
Sadly, we are at a point where continued growth or business as usual is no longer viable. The planet can no longer sustain continued harvesting of oil and gas, lumber and/or monoculture-type farming, which is well on the way to destroying our soils.
Already, people around the planet are suffering from lack of food, extreme temperatures, flooding and unpredictable weather. This is a dreadful consequence of our very high standard of living here in Canada and the United States.
I am interested in new ways of looking at the worth of our country and that is via the approach of Gross National Happiness (GNH). GNH emphasizes harmony with nature and traditional values as expressed in the four pillars of GNH.
According to the Bhutanese government, the four pillars of GNH are: sustainable and equitable socioeconomic development; environmental conservation; preservation and promotion of culture; and good governance.
I believe it is also urgent that we seriously consider “degrowth” which broadly means shrinking rather than growing economies in order to use less of the world’s dwindling resources. Supporters argue that degrowth does not mean living in caves but rather living more simply.
Practical ways of implementing degrowth would include growing one’s own food, buying less, repairing rather than disposing of appliances, using empty buildings instead of building more buildings, et cetera.
Let’s move away from the notion that economic growth is good. Let’s stop harvesting our precious resources and begin to take care of our precious planet Earth - our home.
Cynthia Barnes is a member of qathet Climate Alliance.
