Puzzled by a TV newscast, a child asked the apparently innocent question, “What’s Canada Day?” After listening to his mom’s explanation he then asked, “But what does that have to do with Dad paying extra money for gas today, and us kids needing to use booster seats?”
It’s not an unreasonable question. From his youthful perspective, the media’s focus on today’s implementation in BC of a carbon tax on fossil fuels and the law requiring that children up to 4′9″ tall and nine years of age be buckled into booster seats, overshadows the significance of the national holiday. For some families, the increased cost of filling the gas tank (currently $1.52 per litre), and the acquisition of a booster seat (costing $140 – $299) may actually put a crimp in how they would like to spend the holiday. There are new obstacles to going anywhere.
Then again, what better way to celebrate our country than by supporting ways to keep it green and healthy, and to protect its children? Perhaps there’s a link there after all.
Posted by Carol J. Garvin 
