Speech at the Poverty in PG Rally

I was looking at the funding given to Prince George in March of this year to deal with homelessness in our community- The Province has generously given $742 000 to various social justice and advocacy groups in our community. This money has gone to hire consultants and outreach workers to help bridge those in need with what they need. I hope this doesn’t sound stupid, but why are we putting that money into employment for social workers and coordinators when that money could be directly benefiting the homeless by giving them a home. Direct action is what we require- we don’t have low-income housing- build it! People are hungry- feed them!
The work that support workers do is invaluable- advocacy and support are integral in building a movement and getting things done- but at what cost? I’m proposing a more direct action approach to physically provide the necessities of life- not just to facilitate.
What good is paying a school teacher if there’s no classroom to teach in.

We need the government to provide funding for support, but first invest in the infrastructure.

We have the resources, clearly, or at least we are beginning to. Take that $742 000 and build something or create a project that will still be there after a year- unlike a salary that benefits one household. I am aware that employment is an issue, and that facilitating the needs of the community must be valued and paid- but to me, that $742000 is just lip service if we have nothing to show for it except for facilitation. Maybe those of us who work in the social justice field need to work harder during our work hours to ensure that facilitation and administration is as efficient as possible and therefore more coordinators isn’t the answer- more walls and ceilings and bathrooms are the answer, more kitchens and day care and community is the answer.

The cycle of poverty in Prince George will not be broken unless we start to build outwards- and reach toward a sensible goal. The reason that homelessness and child poverty is an issue in Canada is because there are people that stand to benefit from other people’s misfortune. There are people that benefit from the institution that solidifies the walls of oppression. Noone in the world need go hungry- 30-40% of all the food produced in the global agricultural system is wasted, rotten or thrown away because of market principles and mismanagement. We have to recognize that what we deserve is not based on how much money we make or how hard we work. What we all deserve is food, shelter, clothing, compassion and change!!! I don’t think any of us deserve a 4 car garage or a yearly vacation to the Caribbean. I’m sorry if you don’t want to hear that. Because I’m sure a lot of people here work hard and need a break…
But my message today is about the redistribution of wealth and resources. Let’s just make a bit more sense out of this problem. It’s within our grasp, its within our reach. Everyone learn to give a little more and not out of duress- but from the heart.
If you feel like you can live with a little less then you are ready to tell the institution the same thing. Institutions like the government that overbudget for the smallest things like staff meetings and throw money away- and then can’t find funds for the next quarter to keep an addictions centre open. Institutions like Multi National Corporations that get tax incentives to build and open 100 stores in an urban area that strangle hold small business and then don’t even have the guts to pay their employees a living wage! Institutions like industrial farming that get subsidies from the government to pour toxic chemicals into the ground that will make food security and fresh water two of the most important issues facing Canadians in the next few years.
So what can we do?
We can make demands. We can call and write and email our member of parliament or the Prime Minister.
I don’t find that effective unless an entire community does it- 70,000 emails with the same subject line might be convincing though.
The lesson there is that if there is an action- and you support the issue- do what is required- if its sending a letter, send it, even if its futile- because it wont be if everyone does it. and if you think you don’t have the time- you do!!! There’s time- when we step outside of our capitalist work work mindframe of spending and consuming and then consuming leisure time and then working again- we will find that there is a lot of time to do things that we want to do.
Helping with existing campaigns or start your own-
Always be collecting food for the food bank, always be fundraising for local initiatives that could use the extra dollars, soup kitchens, after school programs, etc.
I would like to suggest a mind expansion revolution. Start thinking more about what you consume and how and why- what do you need, what do you deserve- how can you make your Christmas as waste reducing as possible- all of these things are interconnected.
And for those of you here that are homeless, or at risk of homelessness- how can you spend your time building community and reaching out to people and seeking the services that do exist to strengthen your ties with the community and your feeling of belonging. We all belong to each other, we all breathe the same air, we are all pink on the inside.
When a small city like Prince George cares and cares a whole lot- it will resonate throughout the province and the country. Let’s have bigger goals.
Let’s get together.
Let’s believe in ourselves and in each other.
It’s time to change what you think you know- about life and love and money and especially power. The power is in your hands if you choose to take it.
Don’t let any injustice go unaccounted for- speak up- speak for yourself.

Here’s a poem and I thank you for your time:

Time for change
Time for rage
Time to turn
another page

Time for Love
Time for scorn
Time to save
the newest born

Tear it down
to build anew
time to see
just what you’ll do!!!!


PEACE!

Moratorium Now!
6 Good Reasons why there should be a Moratorium Now
on the expansion of the Alberta Tar Sands.It may be the largest known hydrocarbon deposit yet discovered on this planet. It contains between175 and 200 billion barrels of proven oil reserves using existing technologies alone.

But before you start jumping for joy- read the following info about the downside of it all:

1. Ecological Blowout
The deep mining and extraction of crude oil from the tar sands in Alberta has
already generated a series of ecological threats:
• greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands production are three times
those of conventional oil and gas production [currently tar sands
production emits 27 megatonnes annum and is expected to rise to 108-
126 megatonnes per annum by 2015]. Thus, the tar sands are now poised
to become Canada’s largest single emitter of greenhouse gas,
compounding this country’s contribution to global warming;
• water depletion & pollution, where an average of 2 to 4.5 [and as high
as 7] barrels of water are used to produce one barrel of oil, thereby
seriously lowering the water levels of the Athabasca River, the Mackenzie
Valley watershed and other related water sources in the region. And, toxic
water spewing from tar sands production has infected fish and wildlife,
causing sickness among Aboriginal peoples downstream;
• boreal forest destruction through the stripping away of the Athabasca
forest lands through oil mining operations, thereby digging a huge hole in
the northern lungs of the planet that could, if completed, encompass the
size of the state of Florida. Yet, the boreal forests have a key role to play
in the sequestration of carbon dioxide emissions from greenhouse gases;
• tailings ponds, vast holding tanks the size of lakes, some as large as 15
square kilometers, containing hydrocarbons and other chemical by
products from tar sands production.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion of tar sands development until the
industry is able to meet mandatory targets for the progressive reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions across the board [not ‘intensity targets,’ which only set
GHG limits to per barrel of oil, and fail to cover expansion of production]; the
targeted reduction of water consumption and pollution; along with new and revised
obligations and conditions for restoration of the forests and the full clean up of the
tailings ponds --- recognizing that failure to satisfactorily meet all these targets will
result in severe penalties.
2. Energy Insecurity
The massive development of the Alberta tar sands to export crude oil to the United
States is already undermining Canadian energy security:
• natural gas depletion in Alberta where dwindling reserves are rapidly
being used to fuel tar sands production, thereby seriously reducing
existing supplies of natural gas required for Canada’s own energy security
[Canada has only 8.7 years proven supply left] as well as natural gas
pipelined in from the Canadian High Arctic which would be sufficient to
fuel every home in Canada;
• oil imports where, despite growing oil exports to the U.S., Canada is
importing one million barrels of oil a day [over 40% from OPEC countries]
to meet energy needs in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces;
• energy inefficiency, whereby vast amounts of a relatively clean nonrenewable
fuel like natural gas is used to produce a dirty fuel like tar
sands crude oil --- ‘turning gold into lead’ --- thereby resulting in a net loss
in terms in energy efficiencies;
• nuclear power, proposed as a substitute for natural gas in fuelling tar
sands extraction, raises profound problems about safe storage of nuclear
wastes and corresponding insecurities, especially in the fragile northern
ecology.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion of tar sands development until a
made-in-Canada energy policy and strategy is developed that includes: reduction
of oil exports in order to replace the one million barrels a day imports by eastern
Canada; a renegotiation or termination of the proportional energy sharing clause in
NAFTA; firm commitments to reduce fossil fuel addiction plus a corresponding
plan for transition to safe renewable energy sources for the future; and determined
programs to conserve and deliver existing natural gas supplies to meet Canadian
needs.
3. Aboriginal Lands
The planned construction of the MacKenzie Gas Project to provide more natural
gas from the High Arctic to fuel the Alberta tar sands development has serious
implications for Aboriginal peoples, especially the Dehcho First Nation:
• un-surrendered lands --- the Deh Cho have not yet negotiated a land
claim settlement with the federal government, which views their land as a
resource bonanza for oil, gas, and subsurface minerals, and intends to
extinguish their Aboriginal rights to the land mass over which 40 percent
of the proposed gas pipeline will pass;
• ecological havoc due to tar sands development is already being
experienced by the Dehcho in the form of global warming of glaciers from
greenhouse gas emissions, destruction of the non-renewable permafrost
plus the draining and polluting of water systems in the already fragile
ecosystem of the North;
• unequal economic benefits for both the Dehcho and the rest of the
Northwest Territories due to the lack of a fair royalty regime for the
extraction of natural resources and an equitable development plan,
leaving the North to cope with boom and bust cycles contrary to the 1976
report of Justice Thomas Berger.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion of the tar sands until a just
settlement has been negotiated and implemented for the Dehcho’s land rights,
effective measures are taken to reverse the global warming and water depletion
impacts of tar sands operations, and a fair royalty regime is instituted for the
people of the NWT and also First Nations in Alberta affected by the tar sands.
4. Boom & BUST
The model of development used in regards to the tar sands, while stimulating a
Bust boom in the job market, seriously runs the risk of creating a boom and bust
scenario for Alberta as the primary oil producing province:
• haphazard development, due to the rapid dispersal of production permits
for the tar sands which, in turn, has led to the overheating of the Albertan
economy and an uneven pattern of economic growth;
• resource revenues, where the people of Alberta people and their
Heritage Fund receive among the world’s lowest royalty returns on the
extraction of oil from the tar sands;
• secondary manufacturing, where insufficient priority has been put on
upgrading Alberta’s oil production for long term development by
stimulating, for example, petro-chemical manufacturing and stopping raw
bitumen exports;
• foreign ownership of the petroleum industry in Alberta by major U.S. oil
companies which substantially reduces the ability of the Alberta
government to ensure that development priorities and conditions are met.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion on the tar sands until a more orderly
model of development has been advanced that includes greater public control
over leasing and production permits, the renegotiation of a new and fair royalty
regime for Albertans, a new environmentally sensitive plan for stimulating
secondary manufacturing of petroleum derivatives, and a plan of action for
reducing foreign ownership and increasing public control of the petroleum industry
in Canada.
5. Social Damage
At the same time, this boom and bust pattern of development has been generating
serious social damage for the people and the local economy and society of Ft.
McMurray and surrounding Wood Buffalo region:
• inadequate public revenues for the local governments of Ft. McMurray
and surrounding Wood Buffalo region, from the Alberta government, to
provide public services desperately needed;
• collapsing social services in the region where local governments have
had to cope with a rapidly growing population along with severe housing
shortages, poor garbage clean-up, rundown schools and health facilities,
rising crime rates and bad roads;
• cheap labour practices, which allow oil companies operating in the tar
sands to cut their labour costs by hiring non-unionized workers and
workers from other countries, thereby circumventing the building trades
unions and proper work standards in Alberta plus skewing the skilled
trades pool and wages in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
A moratorium must be put on the expansion of the tar sands until there has been
provincial government assurance of adequate resources for Ft McMurray and the
surrounding region to provide much needed public services and a new negotiated
agreement with Alberta unions involved in the oil industry for a more orderly
development of the tar sands.
6. Military Links
The Alberta tar sands is the centerpiece of an energy corridor for exports to the
U.S. which is increasingly geared to fuel America’s military machine:
• U.S. military economy, which has been largely rebuilt and re-invigorated
since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the ongoing war on terrorism,
and the invasion of Iraq, has substantially increased U.S. demands for
imported oil;
• Pentagon’s oil consumption --- the Pentagon is the single largest
institutional buyer of oil in the world, consuming an estimated 85 percent
of the U.S. Government’s use of oil;
• Canadian oil exports, which are now the U.S.’s number one source of
imported oil, has therefore become a major contributor in fueling the U.S.
war machine.
A moratorium must also be placed on the expansion of the tar sands until there has
been a full public debate about Canada’s foreign policy in relation to oil exports and
the role they play in fuelling the global war economy and increased militarization.

Election Day is Tuesday, October 14, 2008!

Casting your ballot lets you speak your mind. It lets you be heard.

Check out the elections canada website at:

http://www.elections.ca/home.asp?textonly=false

for more information.

Facts on waste...

Here are some facts on waste and recycling-

see the bottom for source (and additional resources).

Remember to recycle reduce and resuse!

"In one hour, a single container ship entering port generates the air pollution of 350,000 cars"
One busload of passengers takes 40 cars off the road during rush hour, saves 70,000 litres of fuel and avoids over 175 tonnes of emissions a year.
Recycling all of your home's waste newsprint, cardboard, glass and metal can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 400 kg a year.
Paper

• Manufacturing recycled paper produces 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution, as well as using 58% less water and 64% less energy than making paper from virgin wood pulp.

• One edition of the Sunday New York Times consumes about 75,000 trees.

• 1 tonne of recycled paper saves 3700 pounds of lumber and 24,000 gallons of water.

• making one tonne of recycled paper uses only about 60% of the energy needed to make a tonne of virgin paper.
Energy

• recycling aluminum (the highest theoretical potential for saving energy) saves 95%• recycling glass -- energy savings of 33%• recycling paper -- energy savings of 64%

• energy savings per tonne of finished plastic bottles is enough to fill a 20-gallon gas tank every week for ten years.

• recycling a glass jar saves enough energy to light a bulb for four hours.

• by recycling one tonne of paper you save:

-17 trees

-6953 gallons of water

-463 gallons of oil

-583 pounds of air pollution

• It takes 95% less energy to produce new aluminum from discarded aluminum pop cans than from raw materials.

• Recycling one aluminum can saves the amount of energy to light one 100 watt bulb for 20 hours or run a TV for 3 hours.
Glass

• Ontario residents recycled over 304 million glass bottles and jars in 1992 through blue box and recycling depot programs. Laid end to end, these containers would circle the Earth twice from pole to pole.
Plastics/Aluminum

• Canadians take home over 55 million plastic shopping bags every WEEK
Organics

• Canadians produce approximately 7 million tonnes of organic waste each year.

• 2/3 of our household waste can be composted.
Miscellaneous

• 5 billion drink boxes are thrown away each year in North America.

• North America has 8% of the world's population, consumes 1/3 of the world's resources and produces almost half of the world's non-organic garbage.

• 70% of landfilled waste could be either reused or recycled.

• One litre of oil can contaminate a million litres of ground water.

• In North America, approximately 20% of our paper, plastic, glass and metal goods are currently made from recycled material. Experts believe that 50% could be easily achieved.
Packaging

• Approximately 35% of municipal solid waste is packaging

• $1 out of every $10 spent on food goes into packaging.

Source: http://www.wrwcanada.com/download_facts.htm

Upcoming events!

Things to look forward to:
Documentary Night-
Watch the grassroots film "5 Ring Circus" about the 2010 Olympics.
There will be free snacks and a great conversation afterward.
October 1st @UNBC 7-150: 4:30pm.
Compost Site Work Party-
1pm at the compost site on campus- help turn compost, fix up the site and learn about waste reduction!
Cosmic Lounge Party-
We are moving the date back- so stay tuned!
We are still looking for local talent to play, DJ or whatever.

Stop Ottawa's Arms Shows!

This event was successful and the Ottawa Arms Show was cancelled!

There is still wrk to be done....

New Articles and New Information now online.... We stopped them before, we can stop them again....

Here are some links to new materials added to the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) website. Please join us in exposing and opposing "Secure Canada 2008" (Sept.30-Oct.1) and "CANSEC 2009" — two blatant manifestations of the international arms trade that are now scheduled to take place at a City of Ottawa facility despite a 1989 municipal ban on such events

Welcome PIRGers!

Dear friends and neighbours, Let's keep connected and keep our community together and strong. This site is for posting articles, events, pictures and to open dialogue for all to participate. What is the PIRG? Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) bring together students, staff, faculty and community groups to organize around issues of public interest, such as the environment and social justice. We promote and conduct research and action in these areas. PIRGs were initiated by American consumer activist Ralph Nader. They began organizing on American campuses in the 1970s, then later, on campuses in Canada. Currently, there are PIRGs in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, British Columbia as well as in the United States and Australia. We are student-funded, which means that all students are automatically members, ensuring that we are not tied to government, university or corporate funding. PGPIRG runs projects and actions through smaller groups called Action Groups. These groups are student-run and focus on specific areas of interest. You are invited to participate in whatever interests you, and we’d be happy to help you put wheels on your idea! PGPIRG uses a decision making process called Consensus, which we believe helps our organization make better decisions in a respectful and open manner. Everyone is welcome to drop by our office, drop us email, and get involved!

Save Our Community Rally in Fort St. James

“Save Our Community Rally” to be held in Fort St. James on August 23

FORT ST. JAMES, BC. Concerned citizens in Fort St. James, BC, are organizing a “Save Our Community Rally” for 12noon, August 23 in Cottonwood Park, to which they are inviting all residents of the town, as well as people from communities throughout the region.

Fort St. James and surrounding First Nations communities have made valuable contributions to the history, culture and economic development of BC. Recently, they have been hit hard with layoffs and shutdowns in the forest industry, resulting in a high unemployment rate and a depressed economy.

One of the biggest concerns of people in Fort St. James and other communities is the need to re-institute legislation requiring forestry companies to process the logs in the communities where they are harvested, i.e., the “appurtenance clause.” Four years ago the provincial government removed this clause, and many feel that this is causing serious problems for forestry-based communities because companies can now close mills, yet still hold onto the timber licenses and ship raw logs out of the community or region.

Peter Ewart, from the Stand Up for the North Committee, which is supporting the August 23 rally, feels that a new kind of “appurtenance” is required that will not only tie logs to communities, but also “give priority to companies that invest in more diversified or value-added production that creates jobs and broadens the economic base.” It will also give priority to those forest companies that “cooperate with and provide secure access to quality timber for other value-added companies.”

Rick Montemurro, spokesperson for the rally and Fort St. James businessman, says that “all levels of government need to work together to provide various supports for hard hit communities, including extending EI benefits for laid off forestry workers in the region, providing benefits for other non-forestry workers, contractors, and self-employed individuals, instituting the Northern Living Allowance, and giving relief from any carbon taxes that are enacted, either provincially or federally.”

He also believes that their needs to be more access to training and education for people in smaller communities, and this training and education should be “relevant to the local and regional economy.”

A contingent of people from Mackenzie will be traveling to Fort St. James to attend the Aug. 23 rally. Alf Wilkins, one of the key organizers of the huge Mackenzie rally that took place last May, says that “an injury to one community is an injury to all. With all the chaos in the forest industry, it is important that communities stick together and support each other.”

Time: 12 noon
Date: Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008
Place: Cottonwood Park, Fort St. James

Organized by: Fort St. James Committee of Concerned Citizens, Mackenzie Committee of Concerned Citizens, & Stand Up for the North Committee

For more info on the rally call Rick Montemurro: (250) 996-7554 or email: rick@maxit.net