Strelioff is a Saskatoon resident and Green party supporter.
One of my favourite children’s books is the timeless classic, The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. First published in 1971, its message is as important today as it was when it was written, perhaps even more so.
Even Theodor Geisel could not have predicted that over the almost 40 years since he wrote The Lorax, that we would have ignored his warning and placed our planet into uncertain jeopardy.
We don’t have Truffula trees, Swomee-Swans, Brown Bar-ba-loots, or Hummingfishes, but we do have overharvested forests here in Canada and mass deforestation of rainforests elsewhere in the world, destruction of natural habitats of countless species of wildlife, many of which have been placed on the endangered species list, as well as toxic lakes, rivers and watersheds where the fish are not fit for human consumption.
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We have communities here in Saskatchewan that do not have easy access to safe drinking water. Our food supply is almost as much in peril as evidenced by the listeriosis contamination.
Saskatchewan has claim to some of the best agricultural land in the world, yet we import the majority of the food we eat from countries that may have suspect food safety regulations, not to mention the fuel resources used to get it here.
Elsewhere in the world countries are maintaining and expanding their rail systems for efficient movement of goods and people while here in Canada we have faced years of tracks being underutilized, abandoned and removed.
Farmers banded together to protect and strengthen marketing for their grain by creating the Canadian Wheat Board, but now the government of big business is fighting to take away this advantage. Without the CWB it will not take long for corporations to turn our independently owned farms into corporate entities worked by basically tenant farmers at the mercy of agribusiness.
One only needs to study the social, environmental and economic effects of the Green Revolution in India to grasp what could happen here when the stewardship of the land is placed in the hands of profit-driven corporations.
How have we let this happen, and how are we going to get ourselves out of the mess we’ve created?
Fortunately, on Oct. 14 Canadians have the opportunity to change our path and get our country headed in the right direction. By using the power of our vote, we can elect a government who will “speak for the trees” and maybe our future will be brighter.
By having neglected the warnings for so long, it will be an uphill battle to improve our dire circumstances. The first step is to stop further deterioration and then, hopefully, repair the damage.
The only political party that has a vision and a plan is the Green party under the leadership of Elizabeth May. The Green party is not a “fringe” party nor is it a “bunch of hippies” as those of differing party loyalties may try to brand it.
All of us who support Green ideologies do so because we desire and visualize a better world. We believe that the previous governments have dropped the ball when it comes to our future by ignoring the warning signs and trying to sweep them under the rug.
To us the message of the Once-ler has not been forgotten, but it needs to be repeated:
Unless someone like you
Cares a whole awful lot
Nothing is going to get better,
It’s not.
