i saw these statistics about the percentage of protected land in different countries and provinces on the electronic billboard at the berri-uqam station. granted, this is probably not the most valid source of information, but there is probably a good part of truth to it.

anyways, basically quite a few european countries count more than 20% of their territory as protected land, gosh even the gold 'ole us of a has a little over 10%, canada on it's hole was somewhere around 8% (i'm not too sure about this one)... quebec, well quebec is in a whole different league with a mere 3,5%.

as gilles vigneault would say mon pays ce n'est pas un pays.

i was talking to this man at work who used to live up in chicoutimi and then moved to chibougamau. he was working in aeronatics and thus frequently flew over the northern lands of quebec. what we urbanites tend to think of as the virgin lands, what saves us from all the pollution that the city emits. it told me with a stern face that it was almost all clear-cut up there. apparently richars desjardin's movie l'erreur boreale was no exaggeration.

so, anyways, topic of the day. elected officials decided to put the land around mont orford for sale. that patch of land, with the 3 mountains on it, is part of the aforementioned 3,5%. in the paper this morning, the regional deputy of estrie told environmentalist groups: 'well, if you are opposed to the sale, why don't you just buy it?'

oh, and do you know what will go on that land? condos, i kid you not.

my country 'tis of thee...