Letter to the editor
Mr. Beauchesne (in his August 8 letter to the editor in the Pioneer) provided lots of facts and figures with regards to emissions. But he forgot to mention that Canada emits only a small fraction compared to Australia, India, Brazil, China, the Middle East, Venezuela or the USA.
Canadian oil companies are doing more than any others to become cleaner. Only the federal government is holding them back.
The real reason Jasper and Waterton burnt is Parks Canada. Fifteen years ago Jasper residents were asking Parks to address the pine beetle problem; it pretty much surrounded the townsite, and Waterton was no different.
Have you driven through or hiked in Banff lately? We can only hope they are not next. Big oil did not burn down Jasper. Parks Canada did.
Brian Hodgson, Invermere
It’s convenient to point fingers at Parks Canada but the situation has more nuance. The claim that Canadian oil companies are doing more than others is questionable. Blaming Parks Canada for wildfires is lazy at best and ignores the broader context of climate change, which is exacerbated by ongoing reliance on fossil fuels. Rather than deflecting responsibility, we should be focusing on how all sectors, including big oil, need to step up their efforts to deal with this global crisis.