LETTER

Climate protection? 

To avoid accusations of political partisanship, please let me alert your readers without using names.  The Prime Minister has been asked to halt trade negotiations with the Mercosur Bloc – southern South America – until the president of Brazil reverses course and protects the Amazon rainforest from burning and deforestation.

Canadians want our government to fight climate change here at home – and around the world. The climate is world-wide.  We want our government, no matter which party rules, to publicly press for real actions to protect the Amazon by Brazil.

In the Amazon, there are about 40,000 fires burning. Brazil’s state of Amazonas has declared an emergency. All this follows Brazilian President Bolsonaro calling the protected areas in the Amazon an obstacle to economic growth. His government has opened them up to commercial development while cutting back enforcement against illegal deforestation. The resulting fires can be seen from space.

This is a crisis for humankind, not just Brazil; it’s our planet. The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest, and is called the “lungs of the planet” since it produces about 20 per cent of the world’s oxygen.

Canada’s trade policy has to match our words. Canada should not be negotiating business deals with Bolsonaro while the Amazon burns. It is equivalent to a trade deal with a nation that exploits child labour.  

Please ask your candidate (and media source) which party will say no to a deal with Brazil while it is burning our lungs?   Forget politics, this is an action to protect our future.

Paul Wooton, 

Aylmer