Great article at the Toronto Sun:
The two Suzukis: There�s Saint Suzuki, the one you see on CBC, and Secret Suzuki, the capitalist millionaireMuch more at the site -- well researched and it really shows the hypocrisy of the man. He should go back to his fruit flys...
There are two David Suzukis.
Most of us know one of the Suzukis. Let�s call him Saint Suzuki. That�s the Suzuki whose TV show on the CBC constantly lectures us about our lifestyle. He says we need to consume less, buy less and use less fossil fuels.
But then there�s another Suzuki. Let�s call him Secret Suzuki, because he�s far less well-known.
Secret Suzuki is the one who lives on Vancouver�s elite Point Grey Road, on a double lot, overlooking English Bay, right above the exclusive Kitsilano Yacht Club. The City of Vancouver assesses the land value alone at over $8 million. And that�s just one of Secret Suzuki�s properties.
He has another million-dollar home in Vancouver. And then there�s another home on Quadra Island. That�s three homes right there, if you count the double lot on Point Grey Road as just one property.
But then there�s his large property holdings on Nelson Island. What�s so fascinating about that one is that he co-owns the property with an oil company, Kootenay Oil Distributors Ltd. They don�t plan to drill for oil together. It�s a beautiful tourist spot � maybe perfect for a nice big condo development.
Of course, there�s nothing wrong with co-owning any property along with an oil company. But isn�t Saint Suzuki against fossil fuel companies � especially oil companies?
Saint Suzuki tells us that the world is desperately overcrowded, that we�re overpopulated, and that we�re going to run out of things.
But in his own life, Secret Suzuki has five children.
There�s nothing wrong with having five children. It�s a blessing. But then why does he think other people should have fewer kids?
Saint Suzuki rails against corporations and profits. He even gave a well-received anti-capitalist speech at the Occupy Vancouver protest.
But Secret Suzuki himself has several corporations. One of them, the David Suzuki Foundation, took in a whopping $9 million last year and has $12 million in assets. More than 10 million of that is invested in stocks and bonds.
Saint Suzuki despises lobbyists, and says they have a disproportionate control of political power in Ottawa. But Secret Suzuki himself has nine paid lobbyists registered in Ottawa�s lobbyist registry. Not one. Nine.
The problem is that Suzuki is always lecturing that there are too many people living on Earth and that parents should have fewer and fewer children - for the benefit of Mother Earth.
As it stands, you could take the 7 Billion people on this planet, put them into the area of Texas and have only 30% of the population density of Manhattan. Uncomfortable to live in for most people but not unprecedented. This planet is huge -- bigger than most people can imagine.
Suzuki needs to teach by example, not maintain a double standard...
If Suzuki can afford five kids, or even more, and IF he's a good parent, why worry?