Report on reports. Report: Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada.

This article discusses the report of the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada on renewable resources and the environment. The commission summarizes the changing contribution of the renewable resources sector during the postwar years. Its absolute contribution to the Gross Domestic Product has increased twentyfold since 1946. Its relative contribution has certainly declined, but rather modestly. Two interacting patterns of resource development can be identified in Canada. One is a pattern of economic development and resource degradation. The other is a counteracting and growing pattern of social learning and resource renewal. The state of resources and the environment is evaluated to a great extent by analyzing the interactions among society, economies, and government. The commission has recommended specific changes that can contribute to the redesign of Canada's economic activity and the ecological and social environment that sustain it.