August 9, 2002

Re: World Summit on Sustainable Development and Kyoto Protocol

Dear Mr. Chretien,

We are members of a citizens group devoted to the promotion of environmental responsibility in Canadian society and we are writing to you firstly to commend your decision to attend the WSSD in Johannesburg, and also to ask you to take this opportunity to make Canada a world leader in the key issues of environmental stewardship and preserving biodiversity.

As you are aware, many people throughout the world lack access to safe drinking water and adequate food. It is hard for us to imagine in our land of plenty that approximately one third of the world's population go to bed hungry each night and over a billion people cannot even trust the water they drink. We know the solutions to both of these problems yet we lack the will and political leadership to solve them.

Our destructive agricultural practices not only fail to feed the world's poor, but they destroy the very soil that we rely on. To make up for the land that we turn into desert each year we are cutting down the forest and destroying the earth's wild places in order to grow food for a few years on what often turns out to be marginal agricultural land.

The tragedy is that, although the problems are widely recognised, we somehow believe that by doing more of the same activities that got us into this situation we can somehow resolve the problems and reverse the damage. If ever there was a time for a world leader to take the stage to unite our governments and agencies in solving these problems, that time is now, and that leader should be you.

Not only do you have the political experience of dealing with world leaders and organizations, but you also have the credibility of being Canadian; a country that is admired and trusted the world over. Although Canada has a proud history of helping those in need, it is apparent that more is needed. Not only must Canada itself do more to resolve these problems, but Canada must also encourage others to do more.

Opinion polls have indicated that the Canadian public is deeply concerned about global warming, the loss of biodiversity, and worldwide environmental degradation. Canadians understand that radical changes must be made and are becoming increasingly frustrated that our political and economic systems are failing to take any significant action to avert the apparent environmental catastrophe that awaits us. We understand that some of the changes we must make will result in temporary disruption to our present economic system while we make the transition to a sustainable economy, but we also recognise that a much greater social and economic disaster awaits us if we do nothing.

Once again this year, Canada has seen and felt the impact of the changing global weather. More record temperatures, droughts and floods, resulted in reduced agricultural production across the country. Many of us have listened to industry make excuses for doing nothing about greenhouse gas emissions and even claim that nothing can or need be done when we can clearly see that something must be done. We need to challenge the industrial dinosaurs that do not want to read the writing on the wall; we need to challenge the political dinosaurs who do not want to upset the status quo; and we need to challenge the developed nations of the world to turn empty words and rhetoric into action.

When you go to the WSSD this year, please tell them that Canada is ready and willing to do what must be done; that Canada will ratify the Kyoto Protocol immediately; that Canada will take action to preserve our endangered species and habitats and protect biodiversity. Please also challenge and inspire the rest of the developed world to match our actions and to go on taking action until we have implemented the sustainable practices that will ensure that everyone in the world has clean water, clean air and enough to eat.

Yours sincerely

Copy to:
Roger Gallaway MP
Sarnia Observer