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.