As people around the world are taking social distancing measures to keep their communities safe Coastal Gas Link and the RCMP continue to bring in workers from all over Canada during a pandemic putting both workers and entire northern communities with limited medical staff at grave risk.
I’VE SPENT TWO decades studying the transformations that take place under the cover of disaster. I’ve learned that one thing we can count on is this: During moments of cataclysmic change, the previously unthinkable suddenly becomes reality. In recent decades, that change has mainly been for the worst — but this has not always been the case. And it need not continue to be in the future.
“‘There is a rich man’s tuberculosis and a poor man’s tuberculosis. The rich man recovers and the poor man dies.’ This succinctly expresses the close embrace of economics and pathology.” – Dr. Norman Bethune, 1932
The pandemic is teaching us about what really matters — and has been possible all along
Before anything else I want to acknowledge what is unfolding in Canada and around the globe as a human tragedy. Even as this crisis offers an object lesson and has things to teach us, it is important to never lose sight of the scale of calamity in terms of suffering and loss of life.
The measures taken to stop the pandemic have set a new standard for our collective response to the climate crisis
If a few months ago I suggested that we should shrink the cruise ship industry as a response to the climate emergency, you would probably have rolled your eyes. But now that the cruise industry is on the verge of a shutdown that could bankrupt major operators, does it seem so impossible?
We cannot give workers a choice between spreading the virus and missing rent. The consequences could be disastrous.
In Canada, COVID-19 has meant that public events and gatherings are being cancelled. Flights, concerts, and hockey games are getting cancelled across the board. Restaurants and bars are closing. People’s contracts and work hours are being lost.
