Canada's Environmental Voice
In the spring and summer of 2014 and late winter 2015, I lived and worked in the beautiful vibrant hamlet of Igloolik, Nunavut, a coastal Inuit community of more than 1800 people located on Igloolik Island about 300 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. I was there doing my undergraduate thesis, working on […]
With a recorded interview obtained in the field, the Wildlife Defence League revealed some powerful information: an individual working for the caribou recovery project in British Columbia admitted to fitting a radio collar onto a wolf, then using it to track down and kill the wolf’s pack members. The worker also revealed that […]
Emi Do was captivated from the get go. By the beginning of the 2011 season, she had accumulated 13 plots of land scattered around Vancouver, to which she tended by way of bicycle and trailer. Her first season, at the beginning of 2010, Do stumbled on the opportunity to farm a plot on the […]
The other day I had a treacherous thought as I reviewed a report on how far away Canada is from meeting our climate targets. Where would be today if those of us who condemned the Harper governments “Turn the Corner” climate plan years ago (2007) had instead encouraged the government to implement it?
Almost 70 years ago, the United Nations declared adequate housing to be a fundamental human right, yet over a billion people lack this right across the globe. Canada’s status as a high-ranking country on global human development and liveability indices should imply that adequate housing for all has long been achieved […]
A 2007 study by the Nebraska Energy Office demonstrated that when a 2500-square-foot home is constructed, on average 3.6 metric tonnes of waste is produced, all of which is shipped to landfills. Attributed to hotter than average summers, air conditioners, large emitters of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants, are also quickly becoming the norm […]
Over the past century or so, the housing problem has ceased to be one of poor living conditions and instead become one of affordability. This is a bit of a simplification, though.
Housing represents the single largest store of wealth among Canadian individuals and families, and is the largest expense in most household budgets. Housing epitomizes the concept of “use value” where the worth of something comes from how it is used, and not its resale price. Historically, as land was passed down through generations […]
Just when people are applauding the comeback of our cities and urban areas, a new set of challenges has set in. People are flocking to large cities like New York, San Francisco, London, Toronto and Vancouver for the jobs, economic opportunities, density and vibrant lifestyles they offer. Yet, the influx […]
THIS ISSUE STARTS with a call to action. We propose that Canada’s housing system needs a reframing – and that’s putting it lightly. As a nation, we pride ourselves on being inclusive, friendly and compassionate people. But our housing situation does not reflect these values. Growing numbers of people are […]
