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Water - swirls that glisten, glisten, glisten, wisdom in the deep, laughter on the shores, listen, listen, listen.

Sylvia

NDP PLEDGES SUPPORT, MAUDE BARLOW SIGNS

Dear friends,

After Question Period and Petitions came Private Members' Business. (September 26)

MP Megan Leslie and MP Dennis Bevington requested an Emergency Debate on the unprecedented melting of Arctic summer ice.  It was refused. That day much discussion turned around when exactly human life begins, (Motion 312) as MPs prepared for a vote on it the same evening. However, as I see it, later in the day when the House was all but empty, Megan Leslie and Dennis Bevington bring to mind questions as to when human life ends.

Letter I wrote to my MP:

It takes a few minutes, please everyone, ask your MP to take some positive action on climate change.

Hi Olivia,

Day 7 of our Fast and Vigil for Climate Justice/Leadership - It was good to see you in the House of Commons yesterday enjoying your work in Ottawa, and thank you for tweeting on us - ClimateFast -  and I write to you, my MP, to ask a few simple things:

Here is the letter which Megan Leslie sent the Speaker of the House prior to the speech she tabled on September 26 after Question Period and the presentation of petitions:

Dear Mr. Speaker:

I am writing to you to give notice under Standing Order 52(2) that I will be seeking leave on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 to propose an emergency debate on the dramatic loss of ice in the Arctic this summer, which reached the lowest levels recorded in recent history, a level significantly below the previous recent low recorded in 2007.

Wow, what an exciting day!  We had visits from Elizabeth May of the Green Party who is joining us in  the Fast for five days.  Along with her came media, CBC and Global so this story may just make the national news tonight, so please listen.

“I do not believe that we are only borrowing this planet from our children.  Instead, I believe that we have actually stolen this planet from them, and that we must inspire our children to fight and take it back.”
Jane Goodall

View the slideshow containing photographs by photographer Vincent

Well here we are day 4 fasting and maintaining a presence on Parliament Hill. Getting the word out is somewhat challenging.

We have some photographs to upload and once the equipment is charged up we'll get them uploaded.

There is an MP from New Zealand here today and we are looking forward to linking up with him and learning more about New Zealand's initiatives around climate change and what they have planned.

Many of those who pledged added remarks to their submissions.

"I have fasted before and will look over your guidelines and do the best I can.  "

"Thanks for taking leadership on this issue..."

"Thanks for what you're doing!"

"It's important to experience this hunger now, in solidarity with people already short of nutritious food, as well as a hungry future for our descendants."

"Thank you to all for this witness. I share your sense of urgency."

"Congratulations on a wonderful initiative! We will certainly and heartily join in!"

After our second day of fasting we are in good spirits and feeling well. I am feeling hungry – but not half as hungry for food as I am for action on the threat of climate catastrophe. I feel determined to stay here and fast for another ten days as my personal expression of concern and sadness for our lack of action to date – and as a statement of my faith that Canadians can and will respond. We must!

We set ourselves up on the walkway between the flame and the Parliament buildings at 9 am, raising our banner ‘Hungry for Climate Leadership’ on one side and ‘Hungry for Climate Justice’ on the other side.

As I go through the days before the start of our fast I find myself preparing on the inside as well as on the outside.

The term ‘Hunger Wars’ appeared in an article written by Michael Klare  (author of The Race for What’s Left) no doubt inspired by the wildly successful novel, The Hunger Games, which depicts a post-apocalyptic future in an impoverished North America where hunger and the search for food is the daily preoccupation of survivors.

TODAY IS SEPTEMBER 11TH. It is now 11 years since the collapse of the world trade centre in NYC and the death of thousands. That tragedy was used to justify so much war and suffering since then.  The deaths of hundreds of thousands in war and trillions of dollars in military expenditures and at the same time our governments have  cut back foreign aid, domestic programs, and environmental protection.  Yet we know that war is not the way to build a secure future.  We need instead to build global community and address the real crises that face humanity.