Government

The government represents the people of a given nation, province or community, and if the nation, province or community doesn't want to be wiped out by global warming, eventually the government will come around as well. The environmental movement that has sprung up in recent years has prompted this change in the Government of Canada with the effect that we're now seeing more attempts to regulate climate change and preserve the environment. Not all of the changes reach down far enough to affect a family living in in a property on a personal level, but some are wide-ranging enough to reach even Joe Public.

This series of articles will focus on the government's efforts to preserve what's left of our natural resources and correct or slow environmental degradation. There are a wide range of government programs currently in effect, from diverting federal funding toward developing a system that will help deal with our landfill issues, to regulating greenhouse gas emissions by commercial manufacturing ventures. The list of government influences over environment-related practices is an ever-expanding one, but we will do our best to give you an accurate overview of the situation in Canada.

There are several major areas in which the government has become involved in recent years due to some alarming findings by scientists studying climate change. They include the preservation of forests, plant life and wetlands, reducing air pollution and generating renewable power. Water is another important one, and not just because we're starting to wonder if we should be selling our fresh water to other countries. There are also issues surrounding pollutants, like whether industrial water treatment chemicals are a godsend for purifying water or just a different set of contaminants that will adversely affect marine life. In some cases government regulation may be helping the environment, and in other cases hurting it, so it's important not to see the government as either a great evil or a great protector, but rather an extension of ourselves with the potential toward either.

One important thing that the government does with regard to the environment is to fund studies on the effects chemicals and practices which are in common use have on the ecosystem. Most studies are funded by grants and the work is done through public universities or doctor-researchers in the health care system. This process is how governments decide what changes to make, and how important improvements in personal safety, such as the requirements for MRI protection in hospital diagnostic imaging departments, come about.

However, the situation is always changing. Laws are constantly being formed, repealed, amended and enacted. Regulations can be challenged in court, and tightened or relaxed to adjust for information revealed in new data. The best thing you can do is to buy a good strapping system and buckle down for the ride as we take you on a tour of the current situation at the time the articles were written. Once we're finished, maybe you'll decide you liked it so much that you want to get involved. Our planet could certainly use you. Special thanks to our website sponsors from Uptown Yonge emergency dental clinic in Toronto. Thank you!