What would you do if you were Prime Minister?

I love Canada. Our peoples. Our geography. Even the weather. It?s a good thing, too, as I?m about to experience it all up close and personal as I embark on a cross-country adventure to talk to Canadians about the environment.

Throughout the month of February, I?ll be making stops in more than 40 communities from St. John?s to Victoria. This isn?t a book tour or a publicity tour for a television show. This is something I?ve wanted to do for a long time ? starting a conversation with Canadians about our environment, our children, grandchildren and our future.
I believe there is a fundamental disconnect between our elected leaders and our people. Polls tell us that environmental issues like global warming are the number one concern of Canadians. Yet most of our politicians offer up little more than window dressings to address these issues. It?s as if many are just hoping to lay low until this ?environment thing? blows over so they can go back to ignoring it as usual.
That?s not right. And I personally will do everything I can to make sure that doesn?t happen. I want to make sure Canadians? concerns are heard in Ottawa.
No matter what your political stripes, we all depend on a healthy environment. Brian Mulroney was recently voted Canada?s greenest prime minister, and he?s a conservative. Whether he was really interested in the environment is debatable. But the fact is, he had no choice but to go green because the public demanded it.
In the late ?80s and early 90?s, environmental issues were hot. Even George Bush senior was elected by saying he would be an ?environmental president.? Corporations and governments set up new environment departments and started ?going green.? Recycling was all the rage.
In the public eye, the problem looked like it was solved. People were recycling. Governments consistently talked about the importance of the environment. Corporations shined themselves to a deep green luster. People breathed a sigh of relief and went back to their everyday lives. Unfortunately that green luster was only skin deep. Beneath the surface, little had changed.
As a result, we essentially went on with business as usual. And it wasn?t until global warming started being actually observed by Canadians and reported on by the media consistently and accurately that the environment got back on the agenda.
That?s where we are now. Only this time, if we want to actually move our country towards a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable society, we have to do more than just brand positioning and image makeovers. We need real change. We need to have strong targets and timelines for our biggest polluters to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. We need to clean up our cars, our homes and our businesses. We need to build sustainability into the bottom line.
Which of our leaders is best for this task will be decided by Canadians come election time. Until then, if you want to make our country greener and more sustainable, get involved and tell our elected leaders that it?s not good enough to just smile and nod for the cameras. Tell them that you expect more.
Canadians have the power to make a real difference and change the direction our country is heading. That?s what my tour is about. We?re calling it the ?If YOU were Prime Minister tour? because that?s how we should all be thinking. What would you do different if you were in change? I want to know and I hope to see you on the road.
Learn more about the If YOU were Prime Minister tour at www.davidsuzuki.org.