Climate change tops most Canadians' list of environmental concerns

Climate change tops most Canadians' list of environmental concerns except in Manitoba and Saskatchewan where survey respondents placed it fifth, according to an Environics Research Group poll released today.

"Climate change is seen as something that is affecting the Prairies less so than other parts of the country where we go through extremes of heat and drought that we're not accustomed to," said David MacDonald, Environics' group vice-president of consumer research.

Prairie folk are simply more used to extreme weather, he said. "Winters are still pretty harsh in the prairies. They're still very, very cold whereas last December in Toronto, I was waxing my car in the driveway, which was unusual. In Central Canada we're seeing climate change in a much greater capacity."