Gratitude for a Green Prime Minister

 Today tributes will be paid in the House of Commons to the late Brian Mulroney. our Canadian Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. It's fitting that these testimonies will happen today because yesterday was St. Patrick's Day he was proud of his Irish heritage, once singing a somewhat cringey "When Irish eyes are smiling" duet with President Reagan of the US at what was dubbed the Shamrock Summit. 

It seemed that there was a fair amount of blarney emanating from Ottawa during the Mulroney years but he had a sense of civic responsibility which was commendable and he was also civil in his dealings with others during and after his years in power. 

I hope that today there will be recognition of Mulroney's designation as "greenest" Prime Minister in Canadian history, which had nothing to do with shamrocks. In 2006 an expert panel chose Mulroney as the most environmentally responsivble PM although at least one of the panel members noted that none of them excelled. During his time in office his environment minister, Tom McMillan, hired environmental activiist Elizabeth May as a policy advisor. May went on to become the leader of the federal Green Party.

There are a number of reasons for Mulroney's choice and one of the most important was his determined role in signing the Air Quality Agreement, also known as the Acid Rain Agreement with the reluctant United States in 1991. My sense that Mulroney was an Irish terrier on this pact and we are still reaping the benefits today. He was justifiably proud of this recognition. 

We were living in Northern Ontario at the time as I served St. Andrew's United Church in Sudbury. We spent a lot of happy hours and days in Killarney Provincial Park and in those years the lakes were crystal clear because nothing lived in them. This was due to acidification, much of it exported from the US to Canada. The Acid Rain Agreement changed this, including emissions from Inco's smelter superstack in Copper Cliff (near Sudbury) that adversely affected forests in Quebec and the Maritime provinces. We left Sudbury in 1999 but have been back a number of times through the decades. We've been heartened to see the return of aquatic plants and fish to the waters of Killarney. 

There will be a state funeral this Saturday for former PM Mulroney at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. I also hope there is some recognition during the service of his environmental accomplishments because this was holy work and deserves an enthusiastic "Amen!" 

Here is an idea of what the agreement addressed: 

The Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada, hereinafter referred to as "the Parties",

Convinced that transboundary air pollution can cause significant harm to natural resources of vital environmental, cultural and economic importance, and to human health in both countries; Desiring that emissions of air pollutants from sources within their countries not result in significant transboundary air pollution; Convinced that transboundary air pollution can effectively be reduced through cooperative or coordinated action providing for controlling emissions of air pollutants in both countries; Recalling the efforts they have made to control air pollution and the improved air quality that has resulted from such efforts in both countries; Intending to address air-related issues of a global nature, such as climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion, in other fora; Reaffirming Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration, which provides that "States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction"