Unfortunately we as a society have become quite blasé about pollution. News broadcasts about polluting situations are disquieting but we have become used to them. Where is the protest movement when we are informed by the medical authorities that we experience 1500 premature deaths annually due to poor air quality in Toronto? We know the government has said it is closing down coal fired electrical plants, and we can expect a reduction in emissions in our atmosphere - sometime.

A Globe and Mail article Oct.12th (A Big Mess - Andy Hoffman) focuses on deadly mine spoils in Newfoundland. A mining company sold its polluted property to Barrick Gold, but recently local people "…..were warned to get tested for lead poisoning, vaulting the issue onto our national stage." That was a news item last week, already forgotten. At least this issue pertains to troubles from industrial malpractice in Canada so we find it featured in our media here. Will there be an outcry?

I had a community forestry project a few years ago in Guyana. The people living in the small community of Wikki about 100 miles south of the coast along the Berbice River were highly dependent on the river for drinking water and fish protein. The area also opened up for a company mining ore for the aluminum industry. Barge loads of ore cruised by the village each day. Wave action destroyed the banks of the river while churning up the mud bottom. The village lost both its source of potable water and a major supply of fish for food. Needless to say a Canadian company had a significant input into the process.

We also learned of a Canadian mining company in eastern Guyana which experienced a serious spill when a settling pond burst its banks releasing a large amount of cyanide into a local river. Presumably the pollution would eventually become diluted and hopefully the drinking water would become less toxic for human consumption. Of course all aquatic life on which the local population depended was destroyed. While we read about such occurrences in local newspapers we doubted the subject would hit the Canadian media or if it did it would only be of momentary interest. Out of sight; out of mind.

Some years ago I visited the lakefront property of a uranium mining company in Port Hope and was shown "Danger Radiation" signs. Apparently nuclear waste material had been dumped into the lake into what became a harbour for touring boats from Lake Ontario. Many of these portable homes housed children who swam in the shallow water often kicking up radiation polluted soil from the bottom.

A friend on Manitoulin Island traveled roads and towns along the north shore of Lake Huron. Wherever he went he carried his Geiger counter and not surprisingly identified many waste dumps from uranium mining. He was especially concerned with old dump sites unknown to local people in places where children were playing unaware of their exposure to radiation material. There was even one occasion when he recorded high readings in coastal waters near his home town of Kagawong as currents along the coast changed course. There are high occurrences of cancer deaths among miners retired from uranium mining in Elliot Lake many years earlier.

There have been many accounts over the years of adverse effects of mine wastes on local human populations, especially where rivers have carried pollution of old dumps through villages downstream endangering water supplies. Many industrial leaders have felt that our air and water were appropriate places to dispose of wastes. But the real story is the general attitude of Canadians shrugging their shoulders just accepting the fact.

From a global perspective Canadians appear even less concerned with the performance of our companies abroad. Health hazards and deaths incurred because of the uncaring attitude of industry in other parts of the world is something we cannot afford to ignore.

Canada should be taking a leadership role, presenting examples of sound environmental practices. Mismanagement either at home or abroad should not be tolerated not only from a humanitarian point of view but also as this does nothing to enhance our image in other lands.