Why do we treat our oceans so badly?

By DAVID SUZUKI

We’ve been dumping oil, plastic, toxic chemicals, radioactive sludge, sewage and fishing gear into the ocean for decades.

We depend on oceans for so much, including half the oxygen that keeps us alive! They’re a source of protein for many people worldwide, and they absorb much of the rising heat from our indiscriminate fossil fuel burning. So, why do we treat them so badly?

An alarming new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report makes clear the link between climate, ocean and the cryosphere (places where water is in solid form, as ice or snow, including the Arctic and Antarctic, glaciers, permafrost, ice shelves, icebergs and sea ice).

The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate concludes that unnaturally rapid, human-caused global warming is altering oceans and the cryosphere faster and at a much larger scale than predicted earlier. When ice and snow cover shrinks under higher global temperatures, we can expect increasing landslides, avalanches, floods, wildfires and risks to water availability and quality. We’ll also feel impacts on “recreational activities, tourism, and cultural assets”.

The ocean is taking the brunt of the excess heating, about 90 per cent. Without serious action to address the crisis, severe impacts will continue to increase.

The IPCC notes greenhouse gas emissions and other human activity have already warmed the planet one degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. “There is overwhelming evidence that this is resulting in profound consequences for ecosystems and people. The ocean is warmer, more acidic and less productive. Melting glaciers and ice sheets are causing sea level rise, and coastal extreme events are becoming more severe.”

The report – by more than 100 authors from 36 countries who referenced about 7,000 scientific publications – found that because greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere for many years, already occurring trends will likely accelerate, including diminishing marine life, increasing storms, melting permafrost and shrinking ice caps. If we fail to reduce emissions and take other measures to slow global heating, the consequences will be far worse.

The IPCC has projected sea level rise by 2100 to be 10 centimetres more than it predicted in 2014 – between 61 and 110 centimetres – mainly because Antarctic ice is melting faster than expected. The IPCC tends to be conservative in its estimates. Others predict sea levels could rise by as much as 238 centimetres if we don’t get emissions under control.

The researchers say that, even if warming is kept below 2C, we can expect trillions of dollars in coastal damage every year and millions of migrants fleeing from coasts, now home to about two billion people.

In every scenario the IPCC examined, it found extreme sea level events that previously occurred every 100 years will likely happen every year by 2050 at many locations.

These include more intense, frequent tropical storms with stronger winds and more rainfall, increasing harm to kelp forests and other important ecosystems, coral reef destruction, declining food fisheries and increased flooding from rising sea levels.

Loss of ice and snow cover also causes feedback loops that speed up warming, as snow and ice reflect heat while dark surfaces absorb it.

A OneOcean initiative news release points out that three of the most serious impacts of climate breakdown on the ocean – acidification, heating and deoxygenation – have been present in every mass extinction in Earth’s history. This severity means controlling other stressors is critical. “Overfishing, pollution, destruction of habitats, ecosystems and biodiversity are all stressors that can be stopped in order to support the resilience of the ocean to withstand the climate crisis,” the release says.

As with all climate-related problems, there’s no shortage of solutions; we just need the political will to implement them.

OneOcean recommends protecting under international law the two-thirds of ocean that makes up the high seas (those areas outside national jurisdictions), curtailing overfishing and pollution, strengthening biodiversity targets and tackling climate disruption in every way possible.

Our profligate burning of fossil fuels and destruction of water and land areas that absorb excess carbon have already set unavoidable consequences in motion, but it’s not too late to avoid the most dire costs of climate disruption. We all need to heed the science and get on with solutions.

• With contributions from David Suzuki Foundation senior editor/writer Ian Hanington. More at davidsuzuki.org.

Speak up for your children!

By DR VICKI BISMILLA

It is the fall term in Canadian schools and our students are busy with books, lessons, play, creativity, friends and social circles. Or are they?

Are some students having to quietly and privately struggle with a menace that has plagued Canadian schools for decades?

School bullies have been harassing students for over half a century – in the old days these were mainly boys who physically threw their weight around the school yard and girls more interested in tarty behaviour and picking on other more scholarly girls.

Over the last two decades bullying in schools has become sinister, violent, criminal, murderous and often gang-related.

In August this year, the official 123-page report titled A Time for Renewal was released on the horrendous boys-on-boys sexual assault at a private boys’ school in Toronto.

A gang of boys sexually assaulted a student in the washroom and the incident was recorded on video.

CBC reported that bullying continues to be a “systemic” issue at a private Toronto all boys’ school rocked by allegations of sexual assault despite measures introduced in the wake of the scandal, says a report that examined culture at the all-boys institution.

The committee found bullying is a school-wide problem. That conclusion was supported by the findings from surveys of current students, alumni, staff, former staff and parents. Those found that 206 boys – about one in five students  – reported they had been bullied during their time at school. The committee also found 88 students “reported that they had been bullied because of their race or religion”.

The pain and suffering endured by the helpless victims at the hands of such brutal boys is unimaginable.

Parents must never ever accept the ignorant responses from some people who say “boys will be boys”.

Bullying is criminal behaviour and racial, religious, physical and mental bullying is rampant in society and in schools.

And it is not just boy bullies that we need to be vigilant about. Girls can also be vicious bullies. There are many examples in the news about horrific girl bullies.  Note these tragic victims:

• In 1997, Reena Virk, a 14-year-old South Asian girl was bullied and murdered by her peers in Vancouver.

• In Toronto in 2008, a 15-year-old girl pressured her boyfriend into killing Grade 9 schoolgirl Stefanie Rengel over jealousy, as alleged by the prosecutor.

• In 2012, after suffering covert, hidden bullying and cyber bullying by eight girls, Amanda Todd, a 15-year-old student, committed suicide in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.

• In Halifax in 2013, Rehtaeh Parsons, a 17-year-old high school student was so severely bullied and sexually assaulted that she committed suicide.

• Then there is the case of nine-year old Amal Alshteiwi who committed suicide in April 2019 in Calgary. Her family had come to Canada as government-sponsored refugees three years prior, fleeing war and bombs in Syria. But the peace they found in Canada was shattered. The family said Amal would come home from school distraught. “They were bullying her all the time there, telling her ‘You are ugly, you are not beautiful.’” (https://globalnews.ca/news/5163138/calgary-syrian-family-daughter-suicide/).

These tragedies are an assault on everything we believe about Canada being a safe haven. How can it be a safe haven if it is not safe for school children? Schools claim that they are doing everything they can with intricate anti-bullying programs.

Vigilance is needed not only by school officials but particularly by parents. Don’t be afraid of being taunted about being a helicopter parent – better to be a helicopter parent than have your child be a sad, bullied and taunted victim.

Go to teacher interviews, ask the tough questions about how they prevent bullying. Ask how students are protected. Ask how bullies are handled.

If you feel not enough is being done, then make an appointment with the Principal and if still no satisfactory answers are given, talk to your trustee and superintendent. Your child’s safety is paramount and all these professionals are being paid to keep your children safe. Always have open lines of communication with your children, be they little or teenagers. Talk about happy times and difficult times. Ask them what was good about their day and what caused them concern.

The moment you notice a change in your child’s mood, if they become sad and withdrawn, lose their appetite, have nightmares, refuse to talk to you about school and peers, then you need to take action immediately. In defence of your child, make private appointments with the teacher and school officials. Ask the above questions but this time in relation to your own child. Do not leave any stone unturned. Pursue all avenues to get the best protection for your child.

For your own education use your search engine to learn about bullying prevention strategies such as the following:

The Government of Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/publichealth/services/bullying/bullying-prevention-programs.html

The Red Cross: https://www.redcross.ca/how-we-help/violence-bullying-and-abuse prevention/educators/bullying-and-harassment-prevention

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation: https://www.osstf.on.ca/en-CA/publications/research-studies/bullying/canadian-bullying-resources-online.aspx

The RCMP: http://www. rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cycp-cpcj/bull-inti/bullres-resinti-eng.htm

PrevNet: https://www.prevnet.ca/home

And finally there are some parents, like Amal’s, for whom language is a barrier. Ask the teacher what is being done to protect ESL children from taunts and bullying.

Draw the teacher’s attention to the availability of school board translators. To save a child is the right thing to do.

 • Dr Vicki Bismilla is a retired Superintendent of Schools and retired college Vice-President, Academic, and Chief Learning Officer. She has authored two books.

DEAR DIDI, why do family events bring out the worst in people?

By KULBINDER SARAN CALDWELL

 Dear Didi,

What is it about celebrations that brings out the worst in people at a time when they should be together joyfully? You’ve had several people write to you about tensions around family events, now here’s mine. My brother got married recently and his wife, a lovely girl by all accounts, refuses to participate in our family celebrations. She’s fine at all other times that we may meet, but at festivals or family events, they always make. – CONFOUNDED

It’s important to note that celebrations are like any other large gathering. There are all sorts of people in attendance which can often bring differences to the forefront. This could lead to tension, even though it’s supposed to be all about joy and being together with your loved ones at family events. Remember, your sister-in-law is a new member of the family and she is probably trying to find her way with all the expectations that come with this new role. If she is a lovely girl by all accounts, it seems there may be an opportunity to figure out what her objections are with participating in family celebrations and festivals.

I’m not sure where your sister-in-law lived before she got married to your brother, but mine came from England. For her, it was a new country, new family and a new culture moving from the UK to Canada. I can’t even imagine what she went through leaving her family, friends and celebrations behind except that it must have felt overwhelming and lonely, especially with a large family like ours. One thing was very clear, my brother had to support her and help her transition into our family because he was her new family.

Your sister-in-law may be going through something similar and she’s looking to ease into the new family celebrations/customs by taking it one thing at a time, with your brother by her side. Maybe ask her how her family observed the festivals and celebrated, invite her to take the lead and recreate those events with your brother, parents and family. If you make her feel like there are things that she can contribute to the celebrations, she may feel more in control of the situation. Often families are slow to change, evolve and adapt new ways of doing things and that may make new members feel awkward or excluded. Give her lots of warning about the celebration, talk to her about what role she can play and remember, there are many celebrations to come. Eventually for your sister-in-law to feel comfortable in large family events, she first needs to feel embraced and accepted by your nuclear family, which I’m sure you will be able to do.

  I may be able to help! Is there something that you wish you could talk to someone about? Email me at Kul@DearDidi.com or follow me on Twitter and Face-book at @Dear Didi_KSC. Want more Dear Didi? Listen to my pod-cast – Generation Immigrant – on all major platforms. Listen, rate, review, repeat. Hope to hear from you soon!

Sifting through the hysteria

By REVEREND TONY ZEKVELD

 I am no scientist. Neither do I pretend to be one. But ‘global climate change’ was one of the hot button issues in the election campaign.

As a Canadian citizen, therefore, I see that this also gives me the permission to ‘weigh in’ on the discussion. I do so as a Christian.

Throughout the campaign, politicians were speaking of ‘global climate crisis’, even ‘climate emergency’. This issue came to dominate the campaign at the time the United Nations met for its emergency climate summit. Global climate strikes occurred on two Fridays calling on political leaders to respond to the ‘climate emergency’. Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old teenage girl, who spoke at the UN, became the inspiration for the “Fridays for the Future’ movement. Its radical agenda is to reduce or even eliminate the use of fossil fuels (oil, gas) and to replace it with solar and wind-powered energy. That means, for some, sailing rather than flying across the ocean.

There is much fear and panic. We are being told that humanity is destroying itself and the earth will soon become uninhabitable, if we don’t change our ways!

Much of it is driven by ideology, not by real science. An overwhelming number of scientists contradict their conclusions! Calvin Beisner, from the Cornwall Alliance For the Stewardship of Creation (see www.cornwallalliance.com), says climate alarmists are relying only on “hypotheses woven into computer-based models”, and “at best, fuzzy science is behind the headline grabbing climate alarmist stories.” 

I find it ironic that this ‘hot-button’ issue comes to the fore during Thanksgiving season! The nation was in no mood to give thanks to God for the rain and sunshine and abundant harvests. True, famines, forest fires, hurricanes ravage the earth. But these have been around all throughout history with varying intensity. God continues to give His witness that He takes care of His creation and He will provide. He is good! After the worldwide flood in Noah’s days, God gave His promise, “while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night, shall not cease”. The greater crisis today is a loss of confidence in God and His Word. That’s why the panic. We come to know of His sure love and saving grace by believing in Christ. He is our lasting hope!

By the way, we might begin to show our care for God’s creation by not littering and keeping sewage out of the St. Lawrence River!

 • Reverend Tony Zekveld can be reached at 416-740-0543 and tzekveld@primus.ca.

are we seeing the beginnings of consumer nationalism?

 By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

 My friend and neighbour Anne had endeared herself to me instantly when she described herself as “Anne with an E” when we first met.

She made coconut laddoos for us one Diwali, following a recipe she found in Chatelaine magazine. She has had us over for several meals to meet her friends and invited us to events at their church.

So, someone without a biased bone in her body. And thus the woman who signs her e-mails as Anne of Newmarket felt the need for an explanatory note following a forward she sent me recently.

“Just want you to know that I don’t completely agree, especially because Canada has many exports too. It was strictly food for thought, much of it bias.”

What was the content of the e-mail that she felt the need to explain?

The e-mail urged Canadians to read labels and buy Canadian. It also listed some interesting facts.

Among them:

Kellogg’s is closing its plant in London, Ontario, and moving it to China.

Hershey’s candy is made in Mexico now, instead of Smiths Falls, Ontario.

Colgate is also made in Mexico now and the writer said they had switched to Crest.

GE bulbs are more expensive than the Everyday Value brand at Walmart. GE bulbs are made in Mexico while the Everyday Value brand is made in Ontario.

Walmart’s Equate products are also made in Canada.

Del Monte is packaged in Taiwan and Dole is now a product of China. E.D. Smith, however, is still made in Canada.

President’s Choice and No Name pickles are made in India.

This is an excerpt from the e-mail::

Shopping in Lowe’s the other day for some reason and just for the fun of it I was looking at the garden hose attachments. They were all made in China. The next day I was in Home Hardware and just for the fun of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in Canada! Start looking... In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else – even their job.

Buying local is hard to do, the e-mail continues, especially with electronics.

I checked out the President’s Choice pickles and yes, they are indeed made in India.

While I haven’t verified the countries of origin of all the products listed, I get the sentiment.

I know how hard it can be to find anything made in Canada while looking for gifts to take back for family and friends in India. Every item of clothing, every toy, and much of everything else is made in China or the subcontinent – India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. Since it doesn’t make sense to take stuff made in India to India, I end up taking things made in China. Which is equally silly, because Indian markets are also flooded with goods made in China.

We once took a friend from India sightseeing to St Jacobs Village near Toronto. After going on a horse-drawn buggy ride and seeing how the Amish lived, we stopped for icecream. She picked up a little pewter bell from a gift shop as a souvenir and discovered, on our return home, that it was made in China!

I am reminded of the Satyajit Ray classic Ghare Baire, that I rewatched just recently.

In it, the character played by Soumitra Chatterjee urges the character played by Victor Banerjee to adopt Swadesi.

Banerjee says he supports the movement, but can’t force his tenant shopkeepers to stock only desi or Indian goods as the ones made elsewhere (mainly England at the time the move is set in) were not only of better quality, they were cheaper.

And Chatterjee’s character – a slimeball, otherwise – had this truth to offer: Short term pain leads to long term gain. We have to sometimes be willing to suffer in the immediate present to bring about a future change.

So was the e-mail a call to action for a Canadian swadesi movement? Perhaps.

As it said, “This is something we should have paid attention to 30 years or more ago, but it’s never too late, one person, one step at a time...The job you save may be your own or your neighbour’s or that of your children and grandchildren.”

It is difficult to boycott all products made in other countries when Canada (and thus Canadian jobs) export things to these countries, too. So there has to be some give and take in a global economy, but this is certainly something to think about.