Who would disagree that hostage-taking is a bad thing? Hence the brilliance of the politician-speak gifted to us by Rachel Notley, the premier of Alberta, as reported in the Times Colonist (“B.C. can’t hold economy hostage: Alberta,” May 17).
“But I fundamentally disagree with the view that one province or even one region can hold hostage the economy of another province, or in this case, the economy of our entire country,” she thundered. And it seems so right, because taking hostages is plain wrong.
But in this case, it is not clear who is the hostage.
I would argue that it is us, the people of B.C., all other provinces, regions and the entire country and the world that are being held hostage, not the poor people of Alberta.
We, the people, are being held hostage because Alberta wants the right to continue and increase the production of oil that is a major contributor to global climate change. Every day around the world, climate records are being broken. Record high temperatures, record lows, record droughts, record floods have become a matter of routine.
Climate scientists have been telling us unequivocally for decades that these changes are the result of increased emissions of gases related to human activities. If these changes are undesirable, expensive, life-threatening, we should be doing everything in our power to ensure that we are not making the problem worse and that we are investing in ways to adapt to these changes.
Instead, we simply aim to burn more oil.
Who is the hostage and why do we let this happen?
We are hostages to the oil barons of Alberta, who reap the economic benefit of increased oil production while the rest of us collect all the problems.
We let this happen because politicians have persuaded us that the most important word in the world is “economics.” Anything that threatens to impinge upon economic growth, such as not burning more oil, is a villain. We don’t even question it. Politicians know this and are eager to play to that weakness, as did Notley.
And yet we know in our own lives that economics is not the touchstone of our existence. Other values such as love, harmony, beauty, empathy, compassion, life and freedom are what define the essence of our beings, not the almighty dollar. And yet when it comes to societal directions, political decision-making, we suddenly forget all these things, and pretend that economics is the only value.
If we have no right to speak up for these values, our society will continue to make the same mistakes that have propelled climate change along so successfully … and now we are paying the costs.
We, in Canada, can afford to pay these costs when compared with most of the rest of the world, where food is expensive, water scarce and shelter non-existent. If anyone has the right to hold the world “hostage” by expanding fossil-fuel consumption, it is the people who live in such conditions.
We have already benefited from the wealth generated by economic growth based on fossil-fuel societies. These people are paying the costs, but have not derived any of the benefits. If anyone has a moral right to exacerbate the most critical long-term global problem we face, global climate change, it is these people, not the oil barons of Alberta.
If we agree with the rhetoric of the premier of Alberta that no region has the right to affect economic growth in another, then we have no right to be trying to impose global climate-emission standards on the peoples of less-developed countries.
And if we don’t do that, the people of the world and generations to come will suffer. So, I say to Notley that it is we who are being held hostage, not Alberta. It is time that she realized there are much larger forces at play than mere economics.
She has a responsibility to the rest of the world and to future generations to make wise decisions that make for a sustainable long-term future, not the boom and bust glitter that have held us hostage for so long.
Philip Dearden is a professor of geography at the University of Victoria with specialization in environmental management, conservation and sustainability, and has advised international organizations and governments.
