The Planet

I watched a 2007 documentary called The Planet tonight at the Vancouver International Film Centre, as part of their monthly Cinema Salon.

It was presented by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson as one of his favourite films. He joked (or maybe it wasn't a joke) that he was debating on presenting this documentary or a movie called Slap Shot. Former Vancouver mayor and now senator Larry Campbell chose The Big Lebowski some months ago for Cinema Salon.

The film was one of those typical "people are ruining the world" stories, but I personally think it's good to watch these kind of doomsday films, at least for me, as it reminds me of all the things I know and repeated exposure to these issues make me continue to make gradual changes in my life to live "green."

Anyway, after the film, there was a Q&A and just like I thought, there were people lined up praising the mayor and encouraging him to run for premier of B.C. or for federal politics because of his "leadership" as Vancouver's top politician. Why people feel compel to ass-kiss at these events, which isn't political, is beyond me. He of course gave the typical politician response that he's "focused" on Vancouver right now and he wants to lessen his "to do as mayor list" before he would contemplate moving on to something else.

There was one question posed to Robertson I found interesting. The woman asked him how he felt about mining companies committing all these environmental atrocities in other countries, but are based here in Vancouver. Excellent question considering Robertson has pledged to make Vancouver the most greenest city in the world by 2020. Understandably, but also disappointingly, he gave a very elaborate answer which in the end did not answer her question. It was obvious that he didn't want to say anything critical or controversial as he raised other questions and issues, without telling how he felt about it. Another person, who works for a B.C. company that harnesses kinetic energy from spent oil and gas wells, piped up and said that there are "global standards" companies follow now, which has made mining almost impossible to do. Heads were shaking as the woman asked "have you been to Guatemala?" and others mentioned other countries that have been exploited and polluted by B.C. based mining companies. That guy should have kept his mouth shut on this topic. He had earlier complained about how there isn't enough funding for green projects like his company, for which he encouraged people to visit his company's website. Interesting work his company is doing however.