Eighty percent of
Canadians live in cities. Major media sources are situated in our southern
cities. Our new digital media devices put
us a virtual world far removed from the natural spaces of Canada. Human ecology
or the interaction of people and the environment is strongly affected by the democratic,
legal and institutional framework in a country.
Our democracy represents the people, but is it a tyranny of a southern
urban majority against the land?
An opinion editorial in
the city newspaper complains about a billion dollar expenditure on a big
project up north. Instead, the money should be spent on a more worthy cause of
new transportation to relieve congestion in the big city. A segment on the evening television news
advocates giving czar like powers to mayors of major cities. A mayor acting as
the chairperson of the municipal council does not have power commensurate with
the great populations and economic muscle of these places. Do our urban perspectives
distort our understanding of Canada, and affect the sustainable development and
protection of our natural spaces?
Our notions of the great
Canadian hinterland do not start up in the far north or Arctic. The hinterland
is anywhere north of the urbanized south. (Yes, Alberta we do know that your
capital is a bit further north, but you also whack your hinterland in pursuit
of tarry dollars.) A major feature of
Canada's democracy is our Federal system with Provincial Governments. The
powers devolved to Provinces are considerable. These visionary arrangements were intended to make government
of differing Canadian regions practical and effective. Even with the division
of Canada into Provinces, there remains considerable variety of geographic and
environmental conditions within the larger Provinces and Territories. About sixty percent of Canada's First Nations
languages are found in British Columbia because it has the greatest variety of
terrain, climate and environment.
Much of Canada's economy
is already dependent on renewable resources such as forestry, agriculture, and
water, supplemented by gas, oil and mineral resources situated in a mid belt
across the country. This swath of the country already has a history of multiple
ghost towns, and male dominated work camps. Permanence, social stability and
sustainability are not evident, and towns often lack sidewalks and other
amenities expected in southern cities.
There is a southern city bias in our democracy.
Ownership of extensive Crown
or public lands makes Provincial Governments trustees of huge swaths of the
Canadian landscape. The benefits of democracy and sustainability were intended
to be extended to lands and forests through the enduring trusteeship of
governments. Provincial politicians have
used the wealth of these places to hold power and attract our votes. Politicians have greater regard for the
instruments of power than for the care of land. Moving the trusteeship of
public lands from capital city centers closer to resource dependent communities
would represent progress in democracy and sustainability.
Binging on abundant
natural resources was a feature of the early development of North America by
Europeans. The Passenger Pigeon, once the most numerous bird on the planet, was
quickly reduced from a population of three billion to extinction. Their habitat was reduced by exploitation of
forests in eastern North America. When there were just a few Passenger Pigeons
left in captivity in the early years of the Twentieth Century, British Columbia
decided to retain its forests in public ownership and manage them by a
independent professional forest service. The intent was to protect forests from
privateers and develop a sustainable forest products industry and stable forest
dependent communities. A century later, the virgin forest assets have been
somewhat depleted and the forest industry and dependent communities are facing
sustainability difficulties.
A century of BC Government
administrations failed to ensure sustainability of public forests because
binging on the hinterland to feed the center or cities was and remains, the
accepted norm in Canada. Forest management was shared with corporate timber
interests that gained private timber harvesting rights in public forests. The
right to harvest crops from land is hardly the best stewardship arrangement to
ensure sustainability. This type of lease, known as a usufruct, was first
developed by the Roman Empire to facilitate the flow of wealth from the
hinterlands to Rome. First Nations
people understand the colonial attitude of central Provincial or Federal
Governments. Resource dependent
communities are starting to realize that they are in the same boat.
Canada is a country with a
peaceful and almost boring history with few social conflicts. In recent years, environmental issues out in
the hinterland have been friction points. Forest harvesting, mines or pipeline
construction have sparked polarized disputes and civil disobedience. The
polarity in these disputes is often hatched in cities. The movers and shakers
conceive them high in a city skyscrapers with intentions of making much money
as fast as possible. At the opposite end of the spectrum, a city based
environmental organization will want to stop any development or save an area by
giving it a protected area or park designation.
Local communities near the proposed development are forced to takes
sides. The polarized proposals may not offer the best long term stability for
these communities.
Short term economic forces
often win resource development disputes. Usually, the developments involve
rapid resource exploitation. The forces of global capitalism, large sometimes
international corporations, governments and state institutions advance these
developments. Billions of dollars in
gold were taken out of the Giant Gold Mine at Yellowknife and the public were
left with the expense of dealing with arsenic waste. The rest of us, help the effort along by
voting for the politician with the usual tune: "It's about the economy and
jobs, jobs, jobs." Does our economy
need to be dependent on moving to the next natural resource binge when the last
one is depleted. The latest form of promotional political gas in British
Columbia is liquefied natural gas. What
kind of sovereign nation orchestrates the exploitation of its rural
environments from distant city centers at the behest of international corporate
forces? If this is the kind of
sovereignty Prime Minister Harper intends for the Arctic, he should wave the
Canadian flag elsewhere.
Canada needs some new
institutional and constitutional arrangements. The recent Canada Supreme Court decision on
aboriginal title specifies a devolved trusteeship. Aboriginal title does not
supply individual ownership, but the right of an aboriginal group to sustain
the values of an area of land for present and future generations. It is an
advanced concept that should be applied to all resource dependent communities.
Devolution of trusteeship of public lands and forests from Provincial capitals
to local areas or regions is a promising solution. A responsible institutional arrangement would
be a local trust with and elected board and professional resource managers to
ensure sustainability. Media articles on aboriginal title have focused on the
impact on existing privateers on public lands. Revenue sharing is seen as the
solution. Provincial governments have long experience of resource development
revenue sharing. It is not foundation for sustainability, but an incentive for
over-exploitation. It is the mechanism used by governments to transfer wealth
from the hinterland to the city. It has
been the primary motivator for the failure of provincial governments to
exercise adequate trusteeship of public lands and the environment.
At the national or federal
level, we need to think about constitutional
arrangements that will move the focus from our overgrown southern cities
to more stable communities and economic development within the middle belt
across Canada. An economy that refines, processes and adds value to raw
resources will give more employment and long term stability. We need not add to
Canada's long list of ghost towns and male dominated work camps. Male dominated
work camps are not a feature of the city, except perhaps the House of Commons.
Canada's Parliament and
constitutional democracy embeds southern city bias and perspectives because our
elected House of Commons represents population. The present 41st Parliament
will go down in history as the time of the Senate scandal. We should hardly be
surprised that there are a few pigs at the trough in this unelected remnant of
the feudal House of Lords. Rather than just report the titillating details of
the scandal, the media should view the problem as an indicator that Canada
needs to make some improvements to its democracy and constitution. The first option is to abolish the Senate. The
media aired this idea for a few days until it was determined that a
constitutional reform effort involving the provinces would be needed. Too difficult and lengthy to attempt, it
seems. Progressive reform of the Senate
got little media attention for the same reason. Canada was not built by backing
away from difficulties or challenges. The terrain, climate and biology of
Canada are challenging. We need to remember
where we live, and we need vision for this land.
The media interviewer,
like most Canadians, is a little too polite, with a tendency to swallow any
answer, and a reluctance to press hard questions. Politicians have wallowed in
the Senate scandal and tried to score points by throwing mud. None of the
political parties has offered real solutions for reform. Constitutional reform
involving the Provinces is possible and can be accomplished. This should not be
accepted as an excuse for failure to make democratic progress through Senate
reform. The real reluctance is centered around the fact a democratically
elected Senate would mean a reversal of the trend toward concentration of power
in the Prime Minister's office. An elected Senate that represents areas,
cultures and places could supply needed balance in Canada's democracy. Such a Senate
would not give us the problems of US democracy.
An elected Senate is not
just an abstract political concept. It will bring real economic and social
benefits to Canada. First Nations, Inuit
and French cultures will feel more at home in Canada. Area based representation
will move Canada's focus from the southern developed strip. Southern cities are
already experiencing the effects of over population.
Senate reform needs to
involve the Provinces. However, some simple formula for a fixed number of
senators from each province, as is the case in USA, will not suit Canada's
geography. Major cities are places that could elect a senator. Representation
of regions, rural areas or geographic regions within Provinces and Territories
would be the central component of Senate seat constituencies. French, Inuit and
First Nations cultures also need to be represented. Obviously, there will be
considerable debate owing to the varied nature of our geography and history.
Prince Edward Island will want at least one Senate seat although it has
approximately eighteen percent of the area and population of Vancouver Island. The
problems are not completely intractable and some flexibility will be required.
Canada heads towards
another federal election and the media needs to keep solutions to the defunct Senate
on the agenda. At elections, the average Joe realizes that he is just being
tweaked by favorable noises in an agenda set by politicians. The main aim is
for a few politicians to gain power for a few years. Considerable apathy at elections is to be
expected. The media can play an important role in expanding the agenda and
election debates. An elected and
effective Senate would widen the distribution of power in Parliament and
protect democracy. Senate reform is an
opportunity for a new vision for the country, to move to a more mature and
stable economy through greater processing and better use of our natural
resources. It will mean a better quality of environment and greater stability
of communities in Canada's mid belt. A Senate that represents land area and
cultures will balance the representation of population. It will bring better
stewardship to the environment and extend democracy to the land.
