4 - Sunday, November 20, 1988 - North Shore News SHORTLY BEFORE the election was called, polls indicated ® strictly personal © that 80 per cent of Canadians wanted protection of the en- vironment to move to the top of the political agenda. The campaign started that way. But in the wake of John Turner’s hyped-up appeal to Ca- nadian xenophobia and insecurity, free trade became the big issue. Too bad. This should have re- mained an election about the en- vironment. To the extent that it looks like the free trade deal would, after all, encourage the kind of economic growth that would lay waste to the environment even faster than it is being trashed at the moment, suppose the environmental factor is being indirectly addressed. For me, the environment re- mains the critical issue, Turner’s flag-waving and Ed Broadbent’s fear-mongering about social pro- grams notwithstanding. And for that reason, I am going to vote, for the first time in my life, for the Green party. I have never actually voted for them before, even though the op- portunities were there, because I considered them to be too wooly- headed on such issues as defence. They remain wooly-headed on defence, by the way. They also spend too much time pandering to radical feminism, referred to in their literature as representing ‘‘post-patriarchal values.’? Gimme a break. But otherwise, they are a sensi- ble, realistic alternative. For certain, they are the only party directly addressing the crisis of industrial society, which in turn is the core of the threat to our en- tire planetary system. The truth is that 20 per cent of the people are using up 80 per cent of the resources of the world, thereby generating nearly all the There remains a thin hope, however. It is the possibility of a revolu- tion in values in the industrial societies, followed by a self-willed political and economic transfor- mation. The reason I can say there is hope at all is because precisely this revolutionary transformation has begun, personified by the Greens. In West Germany and now Sweden they have gained footholds in parliament. Virtually every West European country has a Green party, and they have even sprung F. or me, the environment remains the critical issue, Turner’s Slag-waving and Ed Broadbent’s Sear mongering about social programs notwithstanding.’’ ozone shield and creating the greenhouse effect, which, between them, spell ecological apocalypse within our children’s lifetimes for sure — quite possibly within our own lifetime. To change our ultra-consumer lifestyles at this late stage of the game is probably impossible. If that’s the case, then we are simply doomed. Might as well get drunk, get stoned, and pig out — because there ain’t no tomorrow. Which is, of course, what a huge number of people are already doing. up, under glasnost, in Baltic Russia. It is high time Canada had Green representation in political office. It used to be said that the NDP and before it the CCF acted as the conscience of Parliament, nudging successive governments into social programs that they otherwise might never have implemented on their own. A few Greens in the House of Commons could serve a similar function in terms of the environ- ment, which right now is not truly represented by any of the parties, regardless of the lip service they have been paying during this cam- paign On the North Shore, alas, there is only one Green candidate runn- ing, and that’s a 29-year-old part- time teacher named Glen Ash who is campaigning in North Van- couver. I've interviewed Ash. He’s in- telligent, articulate and extremely well-versed in ecological matters. At his own expense, he toured Europe last year, checking out the various Green parties. He has first-hand knowledge of how they are going about their his- toric task of steering the grov'th- oriented industrial societies of Europe toward some kind of ecologically-sane behavior. The Greens would oppose free trade, food irradiation and the use of pesticides, freeze military spen- ding, push for an international Arc- tic-Nordic nuclear-free zone, end all export of military equipment, place an immediate ban on all chlorofluoro-carbons to save the ozone layer, reduce our dependen- cy on fossil fuels, initiate an alter- nate energy program, give tax breaks to farmers to encourage organic agriculture, promote small businesses and cottage industries, phase out nuclear power, restrict or ban most disposable products, enact tough environmental protec- tion laws, and ban the use of animals in non-medical research, to mention but a few of their policies. If you want to find out more, you can contact Glen Ash at 733- 6527. 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