What we’re learning from COVID-19 could help us confront climate change

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By Shachi Kurl, President

As Canadians navigate byzantine vaccination systems, fight for paid sick days, and grieve for otherwise healthy loved ones some of whom are now, horrifyingly, dying alone in their sleep, COVID-19 robs us of something more still: the mental and emotional capacity to think about much else.

In what other circumstances would an all-out political and leadership disaster at the head of the Canadian military not be the only story dominating headlines? In what other circumstances would analysis and coverage of a federal budget as extraordinary as this year’s dissipate in a matter of days?

If there is one exception to the political and policy issues stuck on the back burner, it is climate change, consistently named by Canadians (after health care and pandemic management) as uppermost on their minds. The parallels to how we think about both crises are notable.

I cannot help but be struck — as protestors continue to gather maskless by the dozens (or the hundreds in Peterborough recently) to bemoan COIVD-19 restrictions in our communities — by the very human desire not to want to face harsh realities. Soon-to-be released data from the Angus Reid Institute will show that while more people in this country than ever believe climate change is real and primarily caused by people, a significant minority representing millions of adults — concentrated in a handful of provinces — do not. Just as public health officials cannot afford to write off the one-in-six Canadians who are unsure or unwilling to receive a vaccine, policymakers cannot turn their backs on those still struggling to come to grips with the ways our warming planet is going to change lives.

For the rest of this piece, please view it on the Ottawa Citizen’s site where it was initially published.

What we’re learning from COVID-19 could help us confront climate change

By Shachi Kurl, President

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