Allister Thompson is a professional book editor of almost three decades and an eclectic musician. He is author of the cli-fi novel “Birch and Jay.” A former resident of Toronto, he now makes his home near the woods of North Bay, Ontario. 

BRINGING THE ROADS OF ONTARIO INTO CLIMATE FICTION

There is a lot of fiction being traditionally published and self-published these days. Like, a lot. You could probably circle the world a few times with all the books published in a given year. Every genre you can think of is pretty crowded, and that includes the subgenre of speculative fiction known as “cli-fi” concerned authors work in to present various hopeful or bleak scenarios about the future we face as climate collapse nears.

Why, you might ask, would a middle-aged editor choose to write in such a crowded field? Well, I was arrogant enough to think I could contribute a couple of distinct things that might set the resulting novel, Birch and Jay, a little bit apart from the pack.

To be clear, I’ve read a lot of cli-fi and enjoyed it all; it’s a community of like-minded authors all desperately trying to provide humanity with a jolt, a wake-up call, to do SOMETHING … anything as consumer capitalism continues unabated and we near and pass tipping points that may erase our civilization and even our species.

And, obviously, nothing is completely original; someone out there is doing something similar to what you’re doing in your book. So, we can’t put too much pressure on ourselves to stand out. What I always tell clients is not to worry about that: you are a unique individual, whatever you come up with will be unique to your personality and experiences, and therein lies the value of your work.

I went with “write what you know.” There are novels set in Northeastern Ontario, where I live, yes. But not a lot of this kind of novel. Having my characters, Birch and Jay, travel from North Bay down the Highway 11 corridor in the year 2123 to Toronto, stopping several times along the way, allowed me to envision not only what a postapocalyptic landscape would look like in what today is a mixed population of locals and well-heeled cottagers, but also how movements of populations would affect the little towns and small cities you pass: South River, Bracebridge, Barrie, etc., and then ending up in the ruins of Toronto itself.

It is a clear vision of how a world and society wracked by the societal effects of climate change would be experienced by us, not someone in London, or New York, or Jakarta. I was speaking straight to Ontarians when I set this book here.

The novel’s Ontario/Canadian setting also gave me an opportunity to engage in some real talk about our country, what it is now and what it’s going to be if we’re not very active. This is the most potentially provocative aspect of Birch and Jay and even more so its sequel, Cedar in the Storm (coming spring ’27), as I show things like concentration camps and repression of human rights smack in the Greater Toronto Area.

To be honest, one thing I’m tired of, and maybe you are too, is Canadians’ moral posturing, which has become easier to engage in when compared with the moral collapse of our southern neighbour. It’s hard not to feel superior to that. 

Canadians believe our country is a beacon of good behaviour and compassion for the world. But what is that based on? Ask Indigenous people across the country, and you may get a very different impression. Ask migrants who are being turned away and immigrants who can’t find jobs in their trained professions. Ask people around the world who plead with Canada to return to supporting human rights only to find our government silent or mealy-mouthed in the service of global trade. Ask concerned young people who have become aware of this entire nation’s addiction to and obsession with a destructive oil-and-gas-based resource economy, the very thing destroying their hopes for a future.

No, Canada’s not that good. It could be; it could live up to its own aspirations and unearned self-praise. But in this novel, I warn us of what’s coming if we don’t. When climate refugees flood our borders, looking to be supported and comforted, how do you think our government and citizens, trained to think the good life is all about selfish mass consumption, will react to the need to make personal sacrifices to help others? How do you think they’ll react to the reality that in order for civilization to survive, we need to change everything about how we live and accept — and even embrace — the fact that the human species is not special and superior and that we must live in harmony with all other life, nurturing instead of dominating?

Well, if you think we’ll behave differently to Americans, or Russians, or Italians, or anyone else, I have some bad news for you. We very likely won’t. And the consequences are examined in these two novels.

So, while climate change and climate collapse are certainly compelling themes, and a lot of people enjoy speculating about what postapocalypse would look like, I made use of this genre to provide a direct, sharp, unequivocal warning and message to my fellow Ontarians and Canadians: get ready and figure out what kind of person you want to be, and who you want to raise your children to be, when and if the time comes.

This was a bracing exercise for me, and, I hope, will be for readers as well.

You can get Birch and Jay from some bookstores, online retailers, and libraries, but also direct from the publisher.