James Pascual
Farmers Forum
Holy cats! What’s up with Health Canada? It looks like they are suggesting we overthrow capitalism, Western society, and even the very concept of “liberty and individualism.” I mean, who needs those things, right? They’re so overrated.
According to a New Health Canada report, fundamental changes in our socioeconomic structures are needed to rebuild our relationships with each other and with our planet. And apparently, the key to achieving this is by focusing on decolonization, justice, and equity. So that’s the secret.
The 72-page report, What We Heard: Perspectives on Climate Change and Public Health in Canada, was commissioned to examine the “impacts of climate change on the health and well-being of people living in Canada.” The authors surveyed 30 academics and public health experts, who are defined as the experts in about every third paragraph.
Made public last month, the report was written by three authors who “identify as white settlers.” They concluded that we need to focus on “less tangible determinants,” such as “legal, colonial and racist factors.” Easy peasy, right? Focus on what’s hard to measure.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “But what about getting sunburned?” Yes, there are indeed a number of emerging public health issues spurred by a warming climate. But the Health Canada report is careful not to get into specifics. There is no explicit mention of a condition or infectious illness that is expected to become worse in Canada as a result of climate change.
Somehow racism, which has never been discussed as a national concern, has suddenly become an issue because all of our government departments are talking about it. Here is an excerpt from the public health report: “People living in Canada depend on a healthy environment and equitable access to it. We heard from the experts that solutions must first involve addressing systemic issues (i.e., capitalism, colonialism, racism), which drive common inequitable outcomes for public health and nature.”
The report says that white supremacy contributes to poor health and climate change.
So, white supremacy can make you sick and plays havoc with the temperature in your backyard? And there is so much of it that it has to be stopped before it becomes the new pandemic. If we have to stop using fossil fuels as soon as possible then surely we must out these white supremacists as soon as possible. Off to the Gulag. But wait a second. No one had ever heard of white supremacy in Canada even five years ago. Nobody knows a white supremacist. Where are all of these white supremacists who drive up the temperature?
And what does this all mean? How did we miscalculate Western civilization? We thought we had built a country with a reputation as one of the most fair and just places in the world. How did the entire world get that so wrong? There must be studies. Where are those eye-opening studies that now reveal how many white supremacists it takes to cause global warming?
No need for studies. The experts have spoken. If we don’t address capitalism, colonialism, racism, and white supremacy, we’re just going to tread water until we eventually drown.
So, thank you, Health Canada. My aunt might be waiting months, even years, for her surgery but I can now assure her that Health Canada has learned that we just need to topple Western civilization. That could end global warming and, just as night follows day, all will be right in the world and, just maybe, her ailment will cure itself.
