Fixing Our Tarnished Reputation
We Canadians pride ourselves on being good neighbours. Our national identity is based on the idea that you can travel anywhere in the world with a maple leaf on your backpack and be treated like a friend.
What many of us in Canada don’t know is that our international reputation is now being tarnished by corporate power and irresponsible government policy.
As awareness spreads in the global community about the need to fight global warming, Canada is increasingly being seen as an obstacle to collective action. At the annual United Nations international climate negotiation summits, Canada has been repeatedly singled out to receive the “Fossil of the Year” award. Representatives of poor nations in the southern hemisphere have actually walked out of the room in disgust on more than one occasion when Canada’s delegates have spoken.
