World Oceans Day

OTTAWA--It is World Oceans Day, but unfortunately Canada’s environmental policies seem to be sinking into the depths, said the Green Party of Canada.  Officially recognized by the United Nations this year, World Oceans Day has been unofficially celebrated in Canada since the Rio Summit in 1992.  This year’s theme is “One Ocean, One Climate, One Future”, highlighting the links between the degradation of our oceans and the destabilization of the climate.   Canada is bordered by three of the world’s oceans and has a particular responsibility in protecting the earth’s life source.

“The ocean waters of the planet are reaching the saturation point where soon the maximum absorption of carbon dioxide will be reached. Already we are seeing the ocean waters warming and becoming more acidic, showing that the impact of human use of fossil fuels is extensive and pervasive,” said Amy Collard, the Green’s Natural Resources Critic.  “These are massive changes that need urgent action on the part of the world’s governments before it is too late.”

The goal of World Oceans Day is to remind citizens from all parts of the country that everyone is connected to the ocean and that our daily actions have an impact on ocean waters and creatures worldwide.

“On World Oceans Day, we are reminded that unfortunately our federal government still has policies in place that are allowing serious over-fishing, habitat destruction, accumulation of toxic chemicals and perhaps most urgent of all, failing to halt the increase of fossil fuel emissions,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May.  “As Canadians across the country celebrate this important day, they know that we can and must do better to protect our oceans, the lifeblood of the planet.”

The Green Party of Canada has proposed that the federal government:

•    Sign and ratify the global treaty to ban bottom trawling.
•    Strengthen the Fisheries Act to require evaluation of threats to fish stocks and include provisions to protect fish stocks and the marine environment and make protection of critical stocks and habitat mandatory;
•    Give funding priority to small-scale projects to restore and enhance wild fish stocks, especially with aboriginal peoples and traditional fishing communities using traditional technologies.
•    Enforce sustainable harvesting technologies such as long lines, cod traps or significantly modified mobile gear and monitor results to ensure the return of healthy stocks and biodiversity.
•    Extend permanent bans on oil and gas exploration and development in ecologically sensitive areas, particularly the coast of British Columbia and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
•    Introduce effective carbon abatement legislation ahead of COP15 in Copenhagen.

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Contact:
Michael Bernard
Communications Officer
Green Party of Canada
613-562-4916 ext. 244
(c) 613-614-4916
michael.bernard@greenparty.ca