A Nova Scotia Brook Trout
Brook Trout
"Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are made for wise men to contemplate." -Izaac Walton
Yesterday I went fly fishing and caught three lovely little brook trout (all released safely back into the brook). It got me thinking as this is the last blog I’ll be doing before the Canadian federal election on Monday.
The Conservatives released their platform, and I note that in the 32 page document, there is precisely one paragraph about the environment.
They start with acknowledging the Liberals have done a good job, as they state “Canada has the world’s cleanest energy, strongest environmental regulations, and most responsible resource industries."
But they then state their continued action will be to stop things like sewage being dumped untreated. They also leave it to the reader to see that elsewhere in the document they would undo many of those very same regulations.
This would be similar to the last time the Conservatives were in power, when then PM Harper attacked the environment with the Navigable Waters Protection Act, gutted. Fisheries Act, stripped. Environmental Assessment Act, repealed. His Government, including the current leader of the Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre, voted to strip the 2.5 million lakes, rivers and streams of their protection, leaving only 159 protected from resource extraction or other polluting and destroying activities.
The Liberals, NDP and Greens have all pledged to protect Canada’s environment, and all have paid attention to climate change and the global issues that brings to us.
I hope Canadians will think about these things as they cast their ballots on Monday!
