Editor:
With some summery weather at last, there were all kinds of delightful activities on the local and national stages (Will and Kate as the icing on the cake) it was indeed a joy to celebrate Canada’s 144th birthday last weekend.
The nationwide showcasing of our unparalleled natural bounty and multicultural social splendour serves as a great annual reminder of how privileged we are to be citizens of the nation so often chosen as the world’s best country to live in.
It would be sad, however, if we chose to rest on our laurels and neglect our responsibility to ensure that Canada continues to enjoy this blessed status and universal admiration.
That responsibility comes closer to home than we may realize.
For example, Canada does not score very well on world listings about pollution and waste per capita.
Last week’s Gazette editorial mentions only a few of the efforts that could be made on the local level that would begin to improve our record in this regard.
Irene Perepolkin’s very timely column about food self-sufficiency points to another area for Canadian improvement.
Can it actually be that Canada, the world’s second largest country by area, with enough fertile land to feed much of the world, is becoming an importer of much of its own food supply?
The Boundary is blessed with an abundant agricultural potential, which at times in the past came much closer to its fulfillment, as the article about the late Mayor Sugimoto aptly points out.
It’s taken years to develop our dependency on imported food but truth is, we can begin to restore and even enlarge our food self-sufficiency with something as simple as a little backyard garden.
It’s likely that food production will soon become a very vital and lucrative activity indeed.
Those who get a head start will benefit not only the community but also themselves and their coming generations.
They will also make Canada an even greater place to live in.
Jim Popoff, Grand Forks