If there is an urgent matter that must dominate government decisions from now on all over the world, but more precisely those of the industrialized countries such as Canada, it is certainly the one linked to climate. Regardless of efforts to create a balance between the economy and ecology, it is hard to believe that in the “Capitalocene” we misuse our resources while fostering an environment that favours healthy living environments, all the more so because this economy is also part of a democratic regime relying on individual freedom and free enterprise. In a context in which decisions about protecting the biosphere are important, it is worth asking if it is not necessary to rethink democracy in a new light: a democracy that values collective well-being, the fate of future generations, all the while caring about climate justice. But, it must be said: it’s all happening so fast.

It’s All Happening So Fast is actually the title of an exhibition presented in 2016-2017 at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA). Mirko Zardini curated the exhibition that had the subtitle: “A Counter-History of the Modern Canadian Environment.” Often associated with wilderness landscapes of forests, lakes and rivers, the vast territory of North America does not always match the country that the tourist industry likes to depict in images. With supporting archival documents, photographs and sculptures referencing various themes—nuclear power, tar sands, GMOs, electricity and overfishing—the exhibition questioned the myth of a country with unlimited resources. It reminded us that since the

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