He may have wanted to hinder the oil industry, but he is Canada’s best-known scientist who has greatly enhanced the consciousness of people everywhere about Nature, the planet, and the environment. Early on, he started his career at U of A with his studies on fruit flies and it is apropos that the university give thanks and pay homage to this great Canadian. I featured a number of articles by and about him in my high school English textbooks of the 1980s and ’90s and would still stand by those pieces and, ultimately, his accomplishments on behalf of people and the planet.
The oil industry stuff strikes home for many Albertans and politically, but Suzuki is not solely responsible for the pro-environment activity going on in B.C. People need to take a broader, wider view of who he is and the much good he has done, to say nothing of the many truths he has told against pressure from naysayers and unbelievers. He is one of the top individuals associated with U of A and they are entitled to give him his dues and recognition same as any other educational institution. No, it’s appreciation time, critics and other agendas aside.