Threats to One of Northwest Ontario’s Greatest Assets
Ed Shields was the founding and completing chairman of the Trans Canada Trail’s 1,200-km Path of the Paddle, extending from Thunder Bay to the Manitoba border
Editorial by Ed Shields
North American conservative politicians continue their ongoing antagonism toward the environment with their “axe the tax” and “drill baby drill” slogans and policies. Instead of protecting 30% of all land and waters by 2030, as Canada agreed in the COP15 Biodiversity Conference, Ontario premier Doug Ford has pushed to increase “development” from mining and forestry within endangered habitats in our region. Such policies threaten our numerous outstanding hiking trails with their awe-inspiring lookouts, and the pristine waters that we paddle on and fish in.
Global warming is the major threat to humankind, dwarfing temporary setbacks for humanity even as severe as war and a nuclear threat. A more valid term for global warming that emphasizes the gravity of our situation is environmental destabilization—the single biggest threat to the global environment and socio-economic development.
As hikers and paddlers, the increasing intensity and frequency of forest fires and other climate disasters resulting from global superheating will be devastating. The intensity and frequency of severe hot spells, flooding rains, and droughts will all increase from greater global heating.
Each of these environmental threats will strongly alter how we interact with our natural environment, and make all our excursions into wilderness more problematic, or even totally destroy these unique environments. All the animals we love as we traverse Northwestern Ontario’s wilderness are now liable to extinction from environmental destabilization and habitat destruction. Wolves, moose, martens, fishers, bats, the majority of fish and bird species, and even insect pollinators and microorganisms are, or soon will be, in trouble and even face extinction. Isn’t it worth it to make a few relatively small sacrifices to move away from a fossil fuel-driven economy in order not to destroy nature’s eons of striving to assemble our highly evolved and highly adapted natural environment?
I’ve even seen new mining claims on Nature Conservancy Canada trails and several other wonderful hiking trails in our region. I have no idea how many other mining claims there are deeper in the woods. Additionally, there are plans to make some of the world’s most polluting mines (copper/nickel) on lands abutting the untarnished rivers in our region, some of which flow directly and quickly into Lake Superior. A few of these proposed highly polluting mines are relatively close to Thunder Bay. I can’t even imagine the destruction of wildlife diversity and pollution of our untamed and free forests, rivers, and lakes from such development. Areas near the Boundary Waters in Minnesota have been engaged in this same struggle against perilous mining practices for many years. Their gains are being reversed by the new conservative government.
The new green economy should be our bright future. Yet, the likely permanent destruction of our ever-dwindling wilderness and the wildlife it protects in support of immediate gains in green technology from mining lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt, and rare earth elements for EV batteries is exceedingly short-sighted, financially, environmentally, and scientifically.
As a science researcher, I suggest that our government should spend more money on research into new science on means to work around environmental destruction from resource extraction. Instead of subsidizing and giving tax incentives to mining companies to maintain their ancient methods of mineral extraction through, for instance, digging giant holes in the ground and leaving hectares of highly polluted tiling ponds and toxic mining waste, these funds could be directed into new science advances that muster cell and molecular biology’s genetic and molecular engineering, combined with AI for biomining and upcycling. That is, to create microorganisms with extraordinary newly created enzymes that can greatly help the uptake of critical metals without destroying the environment or polluting land and water (both surface and groundwater). Additionally, such research would enhance Canada’s economy by making us a world leader in new technologies. Research has already been done that has boosted renewable energy over fossil fuels as a more affordable option.
For those of us with anxiety over what we are losing, and who see the importance of environmental protection of our wonderful home territory, it will be political decisions that are most important, and we should play a role in that.