Canada is a heterogeneous country, from all viewpoints (climate, politics, inhabitants...). And it’s not surprising given the huge size of the country. As I wrote in my first canadian article, there are strong provincial disparities in the ways to tackle environmental problems. I will remember that Alberta is THE bad pupil, with its oil sands and its leaders who are very friends with the american ones to sell them their black gold. My second wood medal goes to the Federal Government. The Prime Minister Stephen Harper didn’t show any will to make efforts and just follows the United States.

Ontario gets my encouragements as they are dismantling their coal plants and trying to develop wind energy. It’s not just by chance that I staid in Québec and British Columbia. These two provinces behave well and have a very important asset : water power. Québec is one of the biggest producers of hydropower in the world, which is why they have low CO² emissions for energy production. Unfortunately, shale gas has been discovered on the subsoils, and the exploitation of it would be a disaster for their environmental balance. But Québec is not like every other province or even like other region of the world : the inhabitants are strongly opposed to the exploitation of that new fossil fuel. The environmental awareness that I have been told about seems to be real, even if I would need a deeper analysis to really judge this awareness.

British Columbia, except water power, has two other assets : carbon tax, introduced in 2009, and the good wills of Greg Robertson, Mayor of Vancouver. The carbon tax seems to influence provincial industries, universities and every other organization for which energy bills can be very significant. Unfortunately, by signing a certain environmental charter which commits them to reduce their emissions, the cities do not have to pay the tax. Vancouver is among the few cities which have a sustainability agenda.

I can now give you my impressions, my feelings about the Vancouver Greenest City project. I think this project is unique and we can only wish to see many other projects like this one in the major cities of the world. Unique doesn’t mean perfect, but given the emergency to act, perfection is not a priority. So, unlike Eugene McCann whose analyses captivated me but that I found too little supporting, I am quite enthusiastic to see such a political (and that is the difference) project being developed. That is why I didn’t chose Eugene to conclude my study but Sean Markey who said, about the Greenest City team and the work they have done up to now : "They would be the first people to acknowledge that it is not perfect but they are just starting and it is good start."

I join, at the bottom of this article, my report about this canadian experience (two versions, a shorter and a longer one).

It’s been now a month that I am in Galati, on south-east of Romania, on the banks of the Danube river. I am volunteering for the Eco-Councelling Center Galati (ECCG), a local and family NGO. Most of the projects are about the protection of the Danube river and some of them for the protection of the Black Sea. I will write a few articles about Danube river, very soon.

See you soon, Be green, Ben

<= Short version

Long version =>