This painting is not intended to point to any particular group of people, I merely painted a Native (Aboriginal boy) because they were here first. Any person born in Canada, whether they be of Aboriginal decent, or white Caucasian, is a Native of Canada. What the artist has tried to do, after thinking about our National Anthem, is to provoke some thought about what we are doing to our planet. More caution is needed with respect to pollution of our total enviroment, the slaughter of wildlife, and the destination of some of our forests. When journeying to our Arctic in 1997, I was naive enough to think that if I needed a drink of water, I would easily be able to get it from an unpolluted stream. However, along the shore of Lake Laberge, just a few miles north of Whitehorse, Yukon, was a large sign posted and reading: "Do not eat fish from this lake more than twice per month." This is the result of acid rain, mercury poisoning and God only know what else. Lake Laberge is merely a widening of the Yukon River, and the pollution of our land goes through to the tip of the North Pole and down the other side. I merely ask: "What are we doing and Where are we going?" Walkerton, Ontario was only one small incident which can possibly take place.

Bob Richardson