Open letter to the United States of America
Canada sent bombers to help when California caught fire. When our country burns…you sent us a letter of complaint. America, we need to talk about it.
Dear U.S. Congress,
Thank you very much for your deep concern about our wildfires “destroy your summer.” Really touched.
We apologize for decades of record heat, drought and corporate deforestation (some of which are your own timber giants), our forests dare to catch fire and interrupt your barbecue and lake weekends.
However, since you are very worried, let's review the scoreboard:
Canada sent bombers when California was engulfed in flames. No letter. No complaints. Just help. Because that was done by friends.
When your forest burns faster than the president’s roar, we usually send trained Canadian firefighters to California, Oregon and Washington. We will not send out letters about smoke drifting north, we will send help.
When your hospital was overwhelmed and got out of PPE during the pandemic, we shipped masks and gloves to the south. Meanwhile, Trump threatens to cut us off. No letter. Just help.
When 9/11 happened, we took over 33,000 stranded passengers and fed them in Gander, Newfoundland. We did not send a letter about our travel season. We opened the door. Instead of burning the earth for campaign cash, you can try it out.
At the same time, you sent us a letter.
You will be worried about your “ability to go out and breathe safely” and write. We are worried about this, too. For decades, we have been worried that your company will bring more carbon into our shared atmosphere than almost any other country on the planet. You teach us about “active forest management” while covering up your own environmental protection measures and subsidizing the fossil fuel industry that sets our planet on fire.
All the time, we are actually investing in green energy to prevent these firepower from starting. Instead of burning the earth for campaign cash, you can try it out.
What do you want to talk about is “destroying summer”? Let's talk about the pristine sewage and industrial waste you've been dumping in the Great Lakes for a century. Let's talk about invasive species that ride on your boat and weaken our ecosystem. Let's talk about the acid rain in your factories that have poisoned our lakes and forests for generations.
Oh, let's talk about the “outdoor entertainment” you're very worried about. You know, with you the outdoor paving with pipes, fracturing and oil rigs. For decades, you have been glad to pollute the same air, speeding up the climate crisis that has worsened these wildfires.
Your letter mentions arson, but conveniently ignores the main acceleration of these fires: climate change. The crisis you actively lobbying should be ignored.
So please give us a lecture. You dare not complain about the smoke in the sky when you help the fire.
You accuse us of “lack of forest management”? please. Our forest is twice as good as Texas. Guess what it is? We haven't spent decades denied climate change when burning coal, like outdated fashion.
We love our summer too. We also like being able to breathe. But most importantly, we value friendship and reciprocity. What is being supplied south of the border is obviously in supply today. Real friends appear in the bucket, not in the complaint letter.
If you are so eager for fresh air, maybe stop voting for politicians who think they deserve support are the color of their campaign donations.
Instead of sending a cunning letter, how to send a firefighter? Or maybe you could dump a huge defense budget into more tanks, border walls, and large billing budgets that support ice and billionaires, but instead can help combat actual global threats. Like climate change?
Next time a crisis occurs, maybe look in the mirror before looking north.
With all the polite Canadian sincerity, we can call,
Canada and Planet D
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Let us prove that true friends carry buckets, not complaint letters.
