This page contains several of the documents and handouts used in Unit 2. Simply scroll down to the document required. To print, highlight the document first, and print only the highlighted section, or cut and paste it into a word processing document.
"Canada's Population Problem"
When human population numbers are discussed, the focus and the problem is usually seen as a "Third World" issue. But let's turn away from the developing world and consider Canada - like its neighbors in the industrialized world - as having an even greater population problem.
By Keith Ronald and Jane Dougan
Canadians enjoy the benefits of bounteous natural resources, many of which we use at a per capita rate roughly 40 times or more than our counterparts in the developing world. Realistically, in terms of consumption and compared to our neighbors in the developing world, we are a nation of one billion resource-gobblers.
Industrialized countries (15 per cent of the world's population) use 50 per cent or more of global primary energy (oil, coal, natural gas), one-third of the world's fertilizer, and are responsible for more than half of greenhouse gas emissions.
It's true that energy consumption in developing countries is rapidly growing as they push to industrialize and raise living standards. Still, Canadian per capita energy consumption is 7 to 10 times that of our neighbors in the developing world.
In fact, Canadians lead the industrialized world in energy consumption (4.9 metric tons per capita), exceeding the U.S. (4.2 metric tons) and more than twice that of Sweden (1.7 metric tons), Norway (2.1 metric tons) or Japan (1.8 metric tons).
Each day, Canadians produce more waste per person (1.8kg) than any other country. Globally, 8 per cent of humanity - less than one person in every 10 - owns a car. In 1988, there were 12 million registered automobiles in Canada - almost one car for every two Canadians.
Our population problem is one of disproportionate demand on the world's shrinking resources. Globally, the amount of key natural resources available to each of us will continue to decrease over this decade, in some cases by one-fifth or more.
At the same time, the human population curve is exponential - accelerating to extinction. Simply put, exponential growth means that the human numbers will continue to swell to unprecedented levels, until they crash abruptly as the resource base collapses.
We have, therefore, two frightening curves to contend with. One, the human population curve, is accelerating upwards; the other, the natural resources available, is increasingly diminishing. Many people think these lines have already been crossed, and we are now living above the human carrying capacity of the Earth.
Since we are gobbling up an intolerably disproportionate share of the global resource pie, Canadians must seriously reconsider their position on economic growth and population growth.
Let's seriously evaluate whether we should continue to push for an increase in our present population size. Remembering the ominously colliding population growth and resource use curves, should our immigration policies continue to be fuelled primarily by a desire for economic growth? Economic upswing may not be directly dependent upon population growth.
Let's consider refocussing military expenditure to combat poverty - one of the fundamental causes of population growth - and to finance research and development of environmentally-efficient technologies.
Let's get serious about unemployment. It is now driven by a simple formula: there are many more people in the world than available jobs. Let's not blame technology alone for causing unemployment. Let's lay blame on human activity. How, in an already over-populated world, will it ever be possible to provide each person with work? Perhaps we need to re-examine our definition of work, and find new and imaginative ways of seeing people as valued members of society.
Let's allot more than 15 minutes on the agenda for discussion of the environment at GATT talks, and concentrate on re-directing the global economy toward a sustainable environment.
We cannot have it all. If we continue our present profligate rates of consumption - remembering the 40:1 resource use ratio - we should make a decision to stabilize or even reduce Canada's population.
The Brundtland concept of sustainable development collapses when the emphasis is on development - growth - and notions of stainability are mere "add-ons." Infinite growth in a finite resource world is simply not possible.
These are bitter pills to swallow; there are no easy answers. But we must rethink our priorities. We must distinguish between what we want and what we need; the two are not the same, although we mistakenly equate material consumption with happiness and personal fulfillment.
As human beings, we have at least two great strengths: the capacity to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, and the ability to empathize. We can put ourselves in the situation of our fellow men and women, and we can anticipate the future.
These two traits, together with the tremendous creative potential of the human imagination, can serve us well in the coming challenging decades. Population growth combined with inequitable consumption is driving almost all environmental degradation, to a point where our very survival is no longer assured.
At this critical time, can Canada show leadership and balance its books in terms of resource consumption? Can we show a sustainable example of a sustainable environment to the rest of the world?