To the Editor,
Re: City, Harmac eye water-sharing options, Feb. 9.
In Canada, there is a general lack of awareness about the pressures placed on our water supplies, combined with a lack of strong conservation ethic ignored by the myth of water abundance, which explains our consumption in contrast to the rest of the developed world.
How much water do we use?
Canada is ranked second after the U.S. Three times more than Germany; four times the U.K.
Thinking of our city council, their continued initiatives on harvesting further water resources in anticipation of continued growth is entirely misaligned with the future.
And the general lack of awareness is really about a lot more than just water.
There are three limiting factors at play today – resource constraints, environmental impacts and financial system overloads.
The legacy we often speak of isn’t for our children – it’s for us. This was foreseeable and inevitable. We need to accept that as the beginning of a fundamental break with the past.
We must think conservation versus spending, on innovation and on being unconventional (adaptable versus inflexible).
Nanaimo has no ‘grand plan’. No ‘emergency preparedness’ save for a sketch in someone’s drawer perhaps.
In every regard, it’s business as usual. We cannot depend on others, such as Victoria or Ottawa. This city hall is made up of ordinary people. What we need is extraordinary.
Canada has a long-standing tradition, when a crisis strikes, to be entirely unprepared.
I propose we break with tradition. We must stop being obtuse, confident in our arrogance, and recognize that Darwin’s concepts on natural selection may kick us so hard to be felt for generations to come.
Consider spending less, making wise purchases and making more than a few changes in our living habits, like turning our lawn sprinklers off during rainfall. That applies tenfold for city hall.
Victor Blazevic
Nanaimo