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Achieving a Balance: Four Challenges for Canada in the Next Decade – Introduction

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Introduction

For much of the past decade Canada has been rated as one of the best countries to live in by conventional measures of longevity, knowledge and living standards. But these are highly unusual times. Consider the extraordinary acceleration of technology, the economy, and globalization. Consider also the expanding hole in the ozone layer, the confirmation of dioxins in Arctic mothers' milk, and recurring smog alerts in the Great Lakes region. Our privileged rating, based on a healthy population and strong economy amidst plentiful natural spaces, has so far proved resilient despite tumultuous change. But for how much longer, and with what effort? The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) has identified four emerging challenges to Canada's medium-term prospects. Although these issues are neither broadly understood nor priorities at this time, they will likely become very important over the next decade. Discussion of these four challenges is based on two underlying convictions. The first is that in recent years the environment has not received the attention it deserves. Governments have been preoccupied with economic matters, particularly reducing the deficit and controlling the debt. Government-sponsored monitoring of environmental changes, for example, has significantly decreased. As a result of fewer resources being allocated by government, we are less able to track and deal with existing environmental challenges and to predict new ones, as the recent contaminated water tragedy in Walkerton, Ontario, illustrates. The second conviction is that our quality of life is and increasingly will be linked to the quality of our environment, and that our economy cannot prosper in the absence of a healthy environment. In fact, taking care of the environment is an investment in the economy.

Potential Health Threats Posed by Environmental Contaminants

Canadians are worried that environmental hazards are affecting the health of children (Ekos poll, September 2000: 93 percent). In the past quarter century, asthma has increased fourfold and is now the most common chronic illness in Canada. Researchers now suspect that accumulated pollution and low-level exposure to several pollutants at once (also known as 'total pollutant loads') have interactive and cumulative impacts on human health. Some scientists believe we need to radically change the way we think about managing these substances. Accumulation of environmental contaminants may be causing subtle but widespread damage to human health. More resources must be invested in researching and monitoring the combined effects of substances, especially with respect to neurological and immunological functioning.

Conserving the Natural Environment

Canada is home to 25 percent of the world's remaining 'frontier' of intact forests, 25 percent of global wetlands, and the biggest caribou herds on the planet. In extraordinary numbers Canadians enjoy nature, spending more than $12 billion annually on such activities as bird watching, hiking, and canoeing. Mostly because of habitat loss, 340 species are at risk of extinction in Canada, and that number is growing. Conservation biologists tell us that isolated parks are not enough. In addition to small protected areas, new integrated systems of land management are needed. The protection of nature cannot be delivered exclusively through government-owned lands. An integrated approach is called for, recognizing that important ecosystems often exist on private land, sometimes in close proximity to urban areas. The long-term prosperity of the Canadian economy can only be built upon the sustained integrity of our lands, waters, and the communities of plants and animals they support. Integrated management of large landscapes is needed, and it must include governments, private landowners, resource industries, non-government organizations, rural communities, and Aboriginal peoples.

Managing Urban Spaces to Create Healthier Environments

Within 10 years, 80 percent of Canada's population will live in cities, and 90 percent will live within a few hours' drive of the U.S. border. To truly offer clean air, clean water, and access to nature, cities need to adopt better planning in which city officials and political leaders work with the community to promote public transit, urban revitalization, and the protection of urban green spaces. In some cases we may need to turn traditional urban planning on its head, developing community goals first and then designing the infrastructure of roads, sewers, and parks around those goals. We have an important opportunity in the next 10 years to design and retrofit our cities in ways that integrate and maximize social, economic, and environmental benefits. There is a strong likelihood that investments that improve the quality of life in cities, such as better transit systems and clean water, will make those communities more competitive in attracting firms and workers. The federal government must take a more active role with provinces and municipalities to support quality of life in cities.

Keeping Pace with Changes in the Global Economy

In the global economy, knowledge and technology are being substituted for materials. The economic advantage is going to those who provide services and employ new ideas and techniques, not simply new resources. The National Round Table has embarked on a major effort to develop better indicators of the draw-down of our natural capital, as a complement to conventional measures of economic growth such as GNP. Canada's resource-intensive economy must diversify more to be successful in the new global economy. Successful industries will also be those that minimize waste and maximize the productivity of resources. To navigate these changes, governments must support training for our workforce and provide market incentives for change.