Orillia’s own Bob McDonald, host of CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks, brought his down-to-earth delivery to St. Paul’s Centre on Monday night, explaining how we can save the planet by employing existing solutions.
His presentation was the kick-off to the week of Arts Orillia Future Fest: A Week of Eco-Art, a dynamic and engaging event exploring the future through art, technology, and thought-provoking discussions. The festival will take place across numerous venues in Orillia until Sept. 28, offering a diverse program that includes book signings, educational talks, art exhibits, theatrical performances, and interactive experiences.
McDonald talked about innovative strategies employed by other countries and cutting-edge technologies he outlines in his recent book, The Future is Now: Solving the Climate Crisis with Today’s Technologies.
He started his current career path after seeing an ad for a presenter at the Ontario Science Centre in 1977. Then employed as a construction worker in Toronto, his unbridled enthusiasm at the interview landed him the job on the spot. McDonald has been presenting the radio program since 1992, pulling in 800,000 listeners each Saturday afternoon.
McDonald, a university drop-out, holds 13 honorary doctorates from Canadian universities and two honorary college degrees. In 2014, asteroid 2006 XN67 was officially named “Bobmcdonald” in his honour.
Appearing well tanned, he told OrilliaMatters he loves to spend time outside and just got back from a vacation in Southern Spain. He added as a boy he loved adventure and exploring, riding his bike through the streets in town, discovering new areas. His bikes have gotten a bit bigger, though; he’s currently riding a BMW, his 20-second motorcycle.
He last appeared in Orillia electronically talking about climate change as part of the virtual open house for Orillia’s Climate Future in September 2021.
McDonald said he was inspired to write his latest book “… because I was getting depressed with all the doom and gloom. We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on the problems, not the solutions.”
He’s encouraging governments and industry to pick up with tidal, geothermal and solar technologies, and even revisit nuclear power, but in smaller, safer reactors. Science education is something he also champions, citing how young people became the backbone of the space race in the 1960s and we need to have those trained and thinking brains for the future.
At 73 years old, he’s trying to get the public involved to help put these technologies in place and not put off to some distant eventuality.
“Now is where we live,” he said.
Full details on Future Fest events this week can be found here.
