Earth Day 2021 once again brings into focus the extent to which the natural environment is being endangered. It also raises a fundamental matter that when speaking about the natural environment we must per force raise the issue of the social environment because on the fate of the former rests the fate of the latter. This raises the central issue of who controls the economy and who makes the important decisions which cause so much environmental damage.

Today, as concerns the natural and social environment, the most urgent matter facing the peoples of the world is not to give better descriptions of the dangers facing the social and natural environment, but to work out the means to turn that around by striving for their own empowerment through democratic renewal. Far from people making themselves spokespersons for the claims others make in their name, this begins with representing what they themselves have to say and speaking in their own name to lay their own claims on society,

Earth Day 2021 continues to see the destruction of nature due to the neo-liberal anti-social offensive whereby the drive of the rich and their governments to rape the earth for its bounty and engage in war preparations continues. It also sees the peoples of the world taking stands which by virtue of activating the human factor also activate social consciousness and responsibility. This is the trend which humanizes the natural and social environment.

The grandstanding of cartel party governments is nowhere more evident than on matters which concern the economy and the natural environment. The feigned concern of the Liberal government in power and the cartel parties which form the official opposition for the environment is self-serving, used as a cover for whatever they are up to. They are trying to convince people that they are protectors of the environment but their deeds speak louder than their words. They promote carbon taxes while they give the green light to mining companies and oil giants to engage in projects which pose untold damage to the environment. They put nothing in place to counter these dangers, let alone make up for the destruction of the way of life of Indigenous peoples who are the keepers of the land. They poison lakes and rivers and lands where military bases are placed and military manoeuvres take place. They spin nonsense about finding the right balance between jobs and responsibility for the environment to cover up their own aims of paying the rich irrespective of the consequences. Their green new deals are cynically directed at justifying the use of public funds to finance narrow private interests. As if there is a Chinese wall between needing a job and caring for the environment, they do everything in their power to divide the people between “workers and environmentalists” to sow acrimony. The aim is to keep the people spinning and counter-spinning so that they cannot work out what they themselves need. Another aim is to imbue them with feelings of great powerlessness so that they give up. Yet another is to isolate those who stand for justice by demanding social responsibility and that inherent hereditary rights of Indigenous people be upheld by labelling them trouble-makers or even risks to national security and the national interest. In this way what should be a matter of legitimate political discourse is criminalized and there is no official political discourse on how to use modern science and technology to solve problems of the environment.

Canadians and the people of Quebec, especially workers and youth, are profoundly concerned about the social and natural environment. They need to create their own political forums where they can listen to expert opinion and discuss how the problems pose themselves and how they can intervene collectively. By activating their own voice they can work out an aim for our society on the basis of which it can go into the future on a sound basis. Canadians cannot afford to be deprived of political power by a cartel party system in the service of paying the rich. The ruling class is self-serving in favour of paying the rich and refuses to deal with any problems the people face which it does not even recognize. The aim of political work must be to be effective in a manner which guarantees the future of the planet and humanity.

Climate strike, Ottawa, September 27, 2019

Climate strike, Montreal, September 27, 2019

Climate strike, Edmonton, October 18, 2019

Climate strike, Vancouver, October 25, 2019