The CBC reports that, "A new report warns that Canada's rivers are at risk and some are even close to drying up due to the effects of climate change and growing demand for water and energy."

"The World Wildlife Fund-Canada report, called Canada's Rivers at Risk: Environmental Flows and Canada's Freshwater Future, looks at the health of 10 major rivers from the perspective of water flow. It says that growing more food, generating more electricity, quenching the thirst of expanding cities, and fuelling industry are taking their toll on the nation's rivers."

"According to the report, flow regimes in some of Canada's most important rivers, such as the South Saskatchewan and the St. Lawrence, have been modified to the extent that ecosystems are in serious trouble. And it warns that other rivers, including some of the planet's increasingly scarce large, free-flowing rivers like the Skeena, the Athabasca, and the Mackenzie - could soon be in trouble."

The Canada's Rivers at Risk report is at http://wwf.ca/conservation/freshwater/riversatrisk.cfm.

The Telegraph Journal published an opinion piece today (copied below) by freelance writer Janice Harvey, "Where are we 40 years later on the environment?"

Harvey, also known as a university lecturer, president of the New Brunswick Green Party as well as once serving as the Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, is a panelist at the Council of Canadians upcoming AGM in Saint John, October 23-24. Find out more information here.

In reviewing the last 40 years of environmental action through the lens of celebrating the Conservation Council of New Brunswick's 40th anniversary, Harvey captures the urgency of addressing the climate crisis.

The appalling federal state of affairs on climate action is laid bare. In particular, the recent actions of the Canadian government at international negotiations leading to the creation of a post-Kyoto Protocol agreement on climate change,  are particularly cringe-inducing.