The fact of the matter is that life has dramatically improved and by leaps and bounds over the 1970s, when popular belief held that we were trashing the joint.

"While we do have some environmental challenges to face," says Dr. Kenneth Green, a director at the Fraser Institute in Vancouver, "We have made spectacular strides in protecting our environment over the last three decades. Canadians should be celebrating, not living their lives in fear of environmental apocalypse."

That comment will never get Dr. Green an invitation to speak to the Sierra Club. However, his evidence is overwhelming. Compiled from government entities, the 2004 study called Environmental Indicators is loaded with good news from land use and natural resources to air and water quality.

Here are some highlights:

• Carbon monoxide levels decreased by 83 percent from 1974 to 2001 despite the fact that there has been a 30 percent increase in total vehicle registrations over the same period.

• Ambient levels of sulphur dioxide, a pollutant produced by burning coal and oil, which can cause breathing problems and aggravate respiratory disease, decreased over 73 percent between 1974 and 2001. Many cities experienced similar reductions including Toronto (–69 percent), Montreal (–79 percent), and Vancouver (–73 percent).

• PCB levels are down, decreasing 89 percent in Lake Ontario; 82 percent in Lake Erie; 80 percent in Lake Michigan; 87 percent in Lake Superior, and 92 percent in Lake Huron relative to their mid-1970s levels.

• The percentage of the municipal population with wastewater treatment increased to 97 percent in 1999 from 72 percent in 1983.

• The amount of land set aside for parks, wilderness, and wildlife has increased by 163 percent since 1970.

Feel better? I do. So, go ahead, breathe the air and drink the water.