{"id":24054,"date":"2019-06-20T18:43:49","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T22:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=24054"},"modified":"2019-06-20T18:43:58","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T22:43:58","slug":"brocks-banter-small-goals-big-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/brocks-banter-small-goals-big-consequences\/","title":{"rendered":"BROCK’S BANTER: Small goals, big consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of us are taught from a\nvery early age that we can do anything we set our minds to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the ideal that every\nparent tries to instill in their child as they grow up, encouraging them to\ncultivate their dreams, follow their heart, and pursue their deepest-held\ngoals, even if they seem sometimes out of reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every parent wants their\nchild to succeed and be happy in whatever path they choose and, as children,\ntry to buffer them from the reality that some circumstances in their lives \u2013 a\nfinancial barrier, for instance, or less opportunity to pursue some form of\nhigher education \u2013 might make the path towards their own dreams a little bit\nmore circuitous than their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ideas we have to make our\nimpact on their world might seem a bit fantastical on the surface \u2013 like being\na scrappy crime fighter inspired by Saturday morning cartoons, or being a\ndaredevil influenced by superhero movies, or being an archaeologist, taking a\nleaf from the pages of Indiana Jones or any number of video games \u2013 but, more\noften than not, they can form the seeds that germinate into something much\nmore, something a little bit more grounded in reality, something with no less\npotential of making an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A police officer, an athlete\nspecializing in an \u201cextreme\u201d sport, or a history professor, anyone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also try to instill in the\nyounger generations that every act, no matter how small, can have lasting positive\nconsequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Pride Month, for\ninstance, there is no shortage of persons whose small or large acts of heroism\nor resistance can be pointed to as key building blocks in the fight for\nequality and making a better world for future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of Pride, there are\nreminders all around us \u2013 whether grandiose monuments, striking pieces of\npublic art, or even a simple street sign bearing the name of an individual who\nserved their community in some capacity \u2013 of difference-makers who dreamed small\nand large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can even find inspiration\ninside our wallets by taking out a $10 bill and learning more about how an act\nof resistance as seemingly small as refusing to vacate a seat at the movie\ntheatre you have duly paid for could strike a lasting blow to the roadblocks\nput up on the path towards Civil Rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, with some of our\nleaders, it seems that the significant impact seemingly insignificant goals and\ngestures can have is becoming increasingly lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it is a product of\nbluster and bravado. Perhaps it is another form of resistance: resistance to\naccepting \u201cinconvenient truths\u201d, because the short-term pain on the road to\nlong-term gain might not be good for political capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, it is, in my\nopinion, a toxic phenomenon and one that needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case in point, the Federal\nLiberals\u2019 announcement that Canada would pursue a nation-wide ban on single-use\nplastics while, at the same time, hold companies responsible for plastic waste\nto account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCanadians know first-hand\nthe impacts of plastic pollution, and are tired of seeing their beaches, parks,\nstreets and shorelines littered with plastic waste,\u201d said Prime Minister\nTrudeau in a statement. \u201cWe have a responsibility to work with our partners to\nreduce plastic pollution, protect the environment, and create jobs and grow our\neconomy. We owe it to our kids to keep the environment clean and safe for\ngenerations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Framing the initiative as one\nthat will have a positive impact on future generations is always a safe bet and\ncould be considered a platitude, but the announcement went further, reiterating\nCanada\u2019s global commitment to the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlastic pollution is a\nglobal challenge that requires immediate action,\u201d the Liberals went on to say.\n\u201cLess than 10 per cent of plastic used in Canada gets recycled. Without a\nchange in course, Canadians will throw away an estimated $11 billion worth of\nplastic materials each year by 2030. We\u2019ve reached a defining moment and this\nis a problem we simply can\u2019t afford to ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ban, if ultimately passed\ninto law, could see single-use plastics (defined here as plastic bags, straws,\ncutlery plates, and the like) banned as early as 2021, \u201cwhere supported by\nscientific evidence and warranted, and take other steps to reduce pollution from\nplastic products and packaging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation would also\nhave the Feds work with the provinces and territories to introduce new\nstandards and targets for companies that manufacture plastic products or sell\nthem with plastic packaging so they become responsible for their plastic waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement received a\nswift response from the Conservative opposition, and not without cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Government couched\ntheir proposed ban by saying these bans would only take effect \u201cwhere supported\nby scientific evidence and warranted,\u201d there is little evidence yet to see how\nthis will impact Canadian business, the manufacturing sector, and the bottom\nlines of the average Canadians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These questions were rightly\nposed by Conservative leader Andrew Scheer but, alas, the party took his\nconcerns one step too far in my view, and it played into that very symptom we\nseem to be experiencing of discounting what we can do close to home to make a\nlasting positive difference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGlobal problems require\nglobal solutions,\u201d said the Conservatives in response to last week\u2019s\nannouncement. \u201cGoing after responsible Canadian consumers while ignoring the\nreal problems that are happening around the world will do nothing to prevent\nplastic pollutions in our oceans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global problems do indeed\nrequire global solutions, hence international agreements from many of the\nworld\u2019s most powerful nations, outlining, for instance, targets towards\nreducing greenhouse gases and having a positive impact on climate change, but\nchange can indeed start at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A ban on single-use plastics\nwill never be a magic bullet, but, if the scientific evidence and the numbers\nultimately add up, it could very well be a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dismissing the suggestion out of hand by arguing Canada shouldn\u2019t\nbother looking at things we can do close to home, that efforts entirely within\nour own power, however small, are a fool\u2019s errand because the world\u2019s most\ndetrimental plastic producers don\u2019t want to be part of the solution is a red\nherring and shouldn\u2019t be part of the argument.<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir Most of us are taught from a very early age that we can do anything we set our minds to. This is the ideal that every parent tries to instill in their child as they grow up, encouraging them to cultivate their dreams, follow their heart, and pursue their deepest-held goals, even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6fY","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-30 04:02:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24054\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}