In loving memory of...

In one of the stars, I shall be living. In one of them, I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing when you look at the sky at night.

Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery



To Vanessa, Bob, Claudia, Laleah, Emma and family - my love and strength in this difficult time.

For Love of Water

Watching: Grey's Anatomy from last week

Just finished watching: FLOW - For Love Of Water

The second of my three water-themed events this week was better than the first. It was more cohesive, and had a stronger pitch for what we can do to help with the water problems we're facing.

Sadly I'm pretty tired and don't feel like writing much more than that. So, in lieu of my laziness, I think you should see the trailer here: FLOW, and then I recommend you sign their petition for Article 31 to be part of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. It's a step in the right direction.

The Myth of Water Abundance in Canada

Tonight I spent the first of three water-themed events I will attend in the next week. It was put on by the Sierra Club of Canada's Ottawa chapter at St. Paul's University and it was entitled The Myth of Water Abundance in Canada. 

The rundown:

MC Adrian Harewood, CBC Radio

Presentation by Maude Barlow, Global Water Activist, Council of Canadians
Published author: Blue Gold, Blue Covenant

Panel Discussion:
Stephen Hazell, Executive Director
Maude Barlow, Chair, Council of Canadians
Meredith Brown, Executive Director, Ottawa Riverkeepers
Clive Doucet, City of Ottawa Councillor, Capital Ward

Some notes:

• One of the causes of climate change has been the changes we have caused to the hydrologic cycle
• China is creating deserts the size of Rhode Island every year by draining watersheds
• Hot spots are being found around the world now (areas running out of water) - Middle East, Australia, 22 countries in Africa, SouthWest United States, Mexico City, India, Northern China...)
• Canada's last water legislation at a federal level was the NAtional Water Act of 1970
• Water is a tradeable good (i.e.: private commodity) in NAFTA, where there is a proportional sharing agreement so hypothetically corporations could sue if we ever restricted their water usage
• Nestle (and other companies across the country, and mostly around the Great Lakes) are getting water permits and taking water out at insane levels -at only the cost of the permit!
• Four trillion liters of water a day are removed from the Great Lakes
• Lake Michigan actually had its water flow reversed because of so much water removal
• Only 3% of the wildlife in the Great Lakes are native
• There are more than 300 chemicals in the Great Lakes, including nitrates and chemical fertilizers from livestock and industrial agriculture in the area
• Alberta's tar sands, described by Maude Barlow as Canada's Mordor, have shown exceptionally high cancer rates in populations nearby - including the unseen bile cancer in children 
• Most environmental groups are fighting for a National Water Strategy where there would be a ban/limits on commercial water exports, a right to safe drinking water for all, and sustainability in our water strategy

I'll post more notes after the next two events: the Flow movie, and the Blue Gold movie.