We sat down to supper last night after a lovely spring afternoon. By the time we finished dessert and tea, wildfire smoke had rolled over Calgary like a blanket, and we dared not go for the walk we had talked about earlier.
Alberta has been hit hard in the past few years by both drought and wildfires. Climate change is a contributing factor to both of these, but those words never pass the lips of anyone in our provincial Government. We are ill-served by our elected leaders trying to ignore the climate crisis that is worsening with every passing year. Just last week, not even summer yet, several South Asian countries posted record temperatures in a heat wave that closed schools, caused crop failures, and put outdoor work on pause for fear of putting worker’s lives at risk.
Ralph Klein warned us of this. Two years after leaving office, the former Premier told the Calgary Herald editorial board: “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that global warming would become such a hot issue.”
Klein admitted that he and his government had been caught flat-footed on this issue. Now 16 years later, our Government still fails to heed his advice, and continues to hope that it will fade away both in the skies and in the minds of Albertans.
Sincerely yours,
Roger L Gagne
Calgary, AB
