Over the last forty years, I've watched his Nature of Things, the work of the Suzuki Foundation and followed his work with interest. It was only natural then that I wanted to see him in person on the Blue Dot Tour which stopped in Summerside on Monday this week. This man still captivates an audience and at the age of seventy-eight, he is still leading and inspiring people all over the world.
The blue dot is the planet of course. So many people in our own place on the dot don't have clean water or air. We also have the right to clean food, free of pesticides and herbicides. If local people demand these things of their local governments, eventually provinces will have to get involved. They in turn will pressure the federal government to put the right to a healthy environment in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canada has not done this when over one hundred countries worldwide have stood up for their people in this way.
The example of how such change can happen is smoking and how widespread it was at one time. Remember the days when people smoked on planes, trains, restaurants and bars, hotel rooms, everywhere? Non-smokers took in a great deal of second-hand smoke as well.
One of our previous neighbours, Dave, is a barbour. His doctor told Dave he had to stop smoking because it was affecting his health. Dave was not smoking but his customers smoked while they waited. Dave banned the habit in his shop. It took time, but when we knew better as a society, we did better and the places where people smoke are greatly restricted now.
Clean air, food and water are basic human rights. We will not settle for anything less.
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