David Suzuki arrested for alleged excess carbon usage
Kyoto opponents celebrate
February 20, 2008
Adrian Reimer
Longtime green advocate David Suzuki of the David Suzuki Foundation was arrested late yesterday under the charge of “exceeding carbon allowance without a license” on the campus of McGill university.
“The size of his environmental footprint would startle the imagination,” noted environmental activist and policeman Joshua Weisman.
Police raided the offices of the Suzuki foundation after an anonymous tip suggesting that the recently noted five per cent rise in nationwide emissions was due to the volume of Suzuki’s comments on the environmental sins of the nation. “It was our understanding that the hot air that was the content of Suzuki’s many forays across the country were preventing Canada from meeting its commitments under Kyoto” said Weisman.
Many critics noted that his group had encouraged the enactment of the law that Suzuki was arrested under only a few months before. Bill C-205, passed after Suzuki himself suggested that the criminal code should be amended to include the potential for imprisonment for excess carbon use, has now been applied to the man himself. A private member’s bill under the guidance of NDP MP Irene Mathyssen, the bill had been passed under pressure from three parties only a few weeks before.
“It is unfortunate that a man of such laudable achievements should be one of the first to suffer the effects of the law, but as a nation we must apply the law equally to all citizens,” commented Mathyssen. “Suzuki may have never intended for the law to reach him, but we must realize these actions are in the interest of persevering the order that we prize within our nation.”
Over the past two weeks, Suzuki has been on a nationwide tour that took him across Canada, and it appears the clause under Bill C-205 limiting paid speeches to 15 a week has been breached quite significantly; Suzuki had been scheduled to visit 26 different locales within Canada over the past week.
At Dalhousie University, where Suzuki had been scheduled to speak today, the mood was mixed: “I think it’s a travesty that such an inspirational leader such as David Suzuki cannot receive grace,” noted one student. “His comments about ‘committing a criminal act by ignoring science’ were obviously not meant to apply to those that can inspire us through their environmental achievements.”
Others were not so sympathetic. “Good riddance,” commented student Thomas McMillan. “Canadians, and most notably Suzuki, must learn that the laws of the nation apply to everyone equally.”
It is still unknown whether Suzuki will retain his Order of Canada. While there is no law preventing him from doing so, criminal charges have in the past caused other members to be expelled from the order. Any such act on Suzuki’s file would surely have huge implications for his firm. Attempts to receive comments were unsuccessful as members of the David Suzuki Foundation struggled to grasp with the situation.
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