ZPG in Canada

It used to be that population was a central concern within the environmental movement. The topic came to the fore thanks to books such as Paul R. Ehrlich's Population Bomb (1968), which predicted untold devastation in the near future as the world struggled to feed, shelter, and amuse an ever-crowding planet. Shortly thereafter Zero Population Growth -- or ZPG as it was commonly known -- was formed in the United States, with the expressed purpose of encouraging governments to enact policies that would not only reduce natural reproduction, but also limit immigration.

In short order ZPG came to Canada. Based out of the University of Toronto, ZPG Canada had five specific goals:

1. Stabilize Canada's population as soon as possible by reducing the natural increase (by voluntary means) and by zero net migration.
2. Carry out detailed studies by appropriate agencies to find out the effects of a wide range of population policies on the quality of Canadian life.
3. Encourage population stabilization in "developed" as well as "developing" countries.
4. Limit the expansion of our major urban areas.
5. Promote an economy having less emphasis on the consumption and export of our natural resources with the aim of eventually attaining a stable state.

However, ZPG Canada had considerable difficulty finding support among policymakers. The response found in a May 28, 1972 letter by John Robarts, the former premier of Ontario, summarizes this indifference:

While overpopulation may become a problem on a world basis some time in the future, it is certainly not the case in Canada nor even here in Ontario....As a matter of fact, the birth rate in Ontario has been dropping over the last few years and will likely continue to do so.

ZPG Canada subsequently shut down in 1982 due to a "lack of public interest in population size and growth issues."

Marshall McLuhan's Critique of the Environmental Movement

A frequent critique of the environmental movement is that the message is often lost amidst an overly-preachy tone. People are told that they must recycle, they must consume fewer resources, and that they must have fewer children. This demanding approach has alienated a certain segment of the population because, let's face it, people don't like being bossed around.

Marshall McLuhan, the celebrated media guru, foresaw the perils of this approach. As former Pollution Probe employee Ann Love told me, one day in the 1970s she and a number of her co-workers bumped into McLuhan in the University of Toronto parking lot they shared. After some small talk, McLuhan left the young environmentalists with one of his patented turns-of-phrases:

"Well boys, I think you are doing a good thing. But remember -- don't should on me."