Canada gets high marks for environmental record, says report

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As BC, Alberta and the federal government continue to spar over the risks of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, a new report from the Fraser Institute suggests Canada has an environmental record that is worth protecting.

The country comes in 10th out of 33 member nations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The study itself can be divided into two broader categories: Public health and the health of the ecosystem.

The rankings are based on a number of different categories like the number species that are at risk and the intensity of our water use.

Co-author and University of Guelph professor Ross McKitrick says the ranking is earned.

“Other studies have come out the last few years that have suggested that Canada does poorly in comparison to the OECD. But what we have noticed about those studies is they tend to pick indicators where it puts us at a disadvantage because we’re a cold country and we need more energy.”

Another cold-weather country took the top ranking. Sweden placed first overall, followed by Norway and New Zealand.

Canada ranked particularly high in water quality and the agricultural sector.

“Some past studies have said we’re very bad at agriculture because they’ve measured it in terms of pesticide or fertilizer use per-person, but that just penalizes countries that have a large agricultural sector. If we measure it per-hectare, which really measures the efficiency of those inputs, we are in third place,” says McKitrick.

The report also takes note of things like wastewater treatment, access to sanitation, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions, among others.

But it’s our next-to-last ranking of protected land that somewhat puzzles McKitrick.

“That partly reflects though, that we have a lot of undeveloped regions of the country. They’re not designated as protected, but they’re just protected by the fact that very few people live there isn’t a lot of commercial activity but at the same time we do have a lot of land that is devoted to active forestry and agriculture.”

Other than protected land, reducing greenhouse gas and sulphur oxide emissions are other areas where Canada ranks low.

McKitrick says even if the pipeline gets built, it likely wouldn’t change our place on the list.

“To measure that, what you need is a measure of major spills in the coastal region, and those are very infrequent. So for most countries, you would just have a measure of no spills”

France and Finland round out the top five while the Unites States came in at 23rd.

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