_ 4~ Wedssesday, May 31, 1989 - North Shore News UNTER strictly perso a AS PART of the transformation of the ecology movement from a fringe to a mainstream political event, a lot of peo- pie have been putting their minds to thinking about what it is we must do if we are to avoid polluting ourselves out of existence. Back in 1987, a coalition of Ca- nadian environmental groups put together a proposed new political agenda in booklet form, called the Project for Environmental Priorities. In it, they called for: 1) provincial control of industrial sewer use, 2) keeping tritium out of bombs and off the roads, 3) setting standards to contro! tox- ic fallout, 7 “As things stand, Canada’s legal system actually works in favor of the polluters and against the victims.’’ i] 4) restoring no-cut zones along waterways, 5) cancelling the massive Dari- ington Nuclear Generating station, 6) phasing out the entire nuclear industry, 7) getting serious about waste reduction, recycling and re-use, 8) curbing drainage to wetland habitats, 9) banning mining, logging and hunting in parks, 10) providing citizens with in- tervenor funding, 11) giving workers the right to blow the whistle on polluting employers, 12) tightening environmental assessment requirements, 13) enacting a federal En- vironmental! Bill of Rights. Looking the list over, two years later, is disheartening, to say the least. It can be argued that standards to control toxic fallout have been brought in to the extent that the Ontario government has forced giant conglomerates like Inco and mighty Crown corporations like Hydro to both clean up their acid rain acts. But that’s about it. In the latest Tory budget, for in- stance, nothing survived of Brian Mulroney’s pledge to the United Nations to set up a Canadian in- stitute to study ways to bring about ‘‘sustainable development.”’ Meanwhile, the Tories kept their promises to keep subsidizing pet- roleum-exploiting energy megapro- jects, not only shouldering aside entirely the basic idea of sus- tainable development, but showing an utter disregard for the fact that it is the burning of fossil fuels, more than anything else, that is heating up the planet at a quicken- ing, deadly pace. In the wake of these disap- pointments, a much smaller, but perhaps more rigorous coalition of environmentalists got together and prepared a revised agenda, describ- ing what they now believe should be done at the federal level in the 1990s, if there is to be any hope of checking the rate of ecological col- lapse. The new agenda is a remarkably well thought-out, well-written document. My photocopy is mark- ed FOR DISCUSSION PUR- POSES ONLY. So I won’t go into the specifics of any of the items, at least not for a while. But it is fair, I believe, to note that the item that was last on the agenda two years ago is first on the agenda now: the enactment of a Canadian Environment Bill of Rights. As things stand, Canada’s legal system actually works in favor of the polluters and against the vic- tims. For openers, most provinces will only allow people whose property or commercial interests are threat- ened to take action through the courts. In the rare event that the victim makes it as far as the courtroom, the game is stacked against him. It is upon him, net the polluter, that the burden of proof falls. He must demonstrate a causal — that is, a direct — link between his suffering and the discharges, emissions or products of the accused polluter. As we approach the point where every single facet of our environ- ment is contaminated in one way or another, it becomes impossible to prove where a given poison came from, let alone what it, and it alone, is responsible for doing to our health, since most modern en- vironmental health problems are cumulative effects from blanket pollution. It’s easy for a polluter to point the finger at another polluter, thus getting himself off the hook. And if the victim loses the court battle, he faces the likelihood of having to pay his opponent’s legal costs, which of course are going to be astronomical. No wonder most sane people shun the courts, hoping the polluter, pleased at not having to face the limelight, might throw them a few crumbs of compensa- tion to help them get through in their weakened condition. The way the laws operate, polluters are protected by pro- hibitive costs and impossible de- mands for highly explicit proof. In reality, you can look at film footage of an armless, legless child born to a mother who worked in a grape field that had just been sprayed with pesticides, and see the relationship for yourself, but what can that poor mother prove in court? She didn’t SEE the pesticides entering her body. She couldn’t. She didn’t conduct the tests on herself at the time. How could she? Common sense tells us the truth, but the Jaw insists on technicalities. If there is to be political change, it has to start here: we need a guaranteed uncontaminated en- vironment. Everything else, legalistically, flows from that premise © SENIORS — 50 plus a TRAVEL with SHIRLEY” to AUSTRALIA & FISI—OCTOBER/89 | AVisit? THE BARRIER REEF; THE OUTBACK — ALICE SPRINGS “ and AYER’S ROCK; ADELAIDE; MELBOURNE and beautiful SYDNEY; relax in FiJl. EARLY BOOKING DISCOUNT — call SHIRLEY for details. SHIRLEY PORTER - 278-3822 or 278-2064 eves. ne _ 6630 #3 Rd. INTRA. Brighouse Trave! Place Ltd. Richmond, B.C. V6Y 2C2 Squamish Kiwanis Club gets funds CAPILANO-HOWE Sound MP Mary Collins recently announced that the Kiwanis Club of Squamish Valley will receive $43,350 in fed- erai funding for a job creation Program under Section 38 of the Unemployment Insurance Pro- ‘am, The Kiwanis Club will use the money to promote environmentally sound solid waste management practises in the Squamish area. Activities will include the collec- CORRECTION NOTICE In the Sunday, May 28/89 issue of the paper, the ad which appeared on page 13 for Vancouver Carpet Cleaning, had an incor- rect expiry date of June 1/89. The correct expiry date should have read Sunday, June 11/89. We apologize for any in- convenience this may have caused. VANCOUVER CARPET CLEANING 931-3422 FANNY’S FABRICS | 48 tion of materials; processing and packaging the items for shipment; and transportation of materials to redistribution centres. The program will extend the life of Squamish landfill by recycling plastic, cardboard, glass and tin. The Kiwanis Club has operated a successful newspaper recycling operation for the past two years and the expansion of the program will benefit the entire community through the re-use of additional LOSS? See us for good hearing aid service — sales, repairs, batteries and advice. ASE ABOUT OUR TRIAL SERVICE. North Western Hearing Centre Open Tues. - Fri. 9:30 - 5 Sat. 9:30 - 1. Closed Mon. ii? he (RecN wks NY materials and a reduction in the emount of garbage to be dumped at the Squamish landfill. CANADIAN CLOSET SHOPS = 986-4263 Free home estimates 985-5552 1910 Lonsdale North Vancouver ae Sy |e STITCH ‘N’ SAVE y OR SEE AND SEW “&X OVER 100,000 M's