Newsletter Wrapup

ClimateFast 2013

Dear friends,

Forgive us for the delay in sending this newsletter. It has taken some time for us to recover.

The ClimateFasters completed the fast Wednesday evening (Oct 2) following the candlelight vigil. We were honoured to have the presence of Anishnawbeg Spiritkeeper Barbara Hill and two of her fellow drummers, Judith Fransom and Nellie Corbiere, to welcome new arrivals and share the smudge to bless our circle. There was an enthusiastic crowd at the vigil to listen to Rev. Frances Deverell and the other ClimateFasters. We were entertained by: Just Voices  – Song For The Climate; and Vela – Tar Free 613.

Frances has posted a longer description of the closing vigil on her blog http://creativeinterchange.blogspot.ca/
 

We've added more photographs to the gallery at http://climatefast.ca/photos
Those who were food fasting were happy to be able to eat solid food after 12 days. We hope that those who were following a carbon fast, will continue to do so and those who were not will consider following it. However, the most important thing our supporters can do is write letters to their representatives and the media.

Our warm thanks go out to Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, who fasted in solidarity with ClimateFast. We are so very grateful to him for his leadership on climate. He is a source of inspiration to ClimateFast. During our fast and vigil we screened Do the Math (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zfinOCgRQ0) a must see for every MP, every MPP, every Councillor, every one.

Bill wrote the following endorsement of ClimateFast: "Climate change is pre-eminently a moral issue, and this fast is a noble response to that challenge; let us hope that it will move the Canadian government, since they are in a key position in this fight."

Endorsements by Members of Parliament

As of today, an additional eleven Members have pledged to work to bring about the following three measures:

• end fossil fuel subsidies;
• put a price on carbon;
• support the development of a renewable energy plan for Canada.

The new MPs are Randall Garrison; Fin Donnelly; Kennedy Stewart; Marc Garneau; Francine Raynault; Malcolm Allen; Jack Harris; Romeo Saganash; Mathieu Ravignat; Charmaine Borg; and Jasbir Sandhu.

Ms Raynault made the following comment when she pledged her support: "Nous avons deux options: soit nous modernisons notre économie en créant de nouvelles opportunités de développement durable, soit nous coulons tous avec le bateau. Je veux faire partie de la première option." (We have two options: either we modernize our economy by creating new opportunities for sustainable development, or we all go down with the ship. I want to be part of the first option.)

More pledges continue to arrive; online submissions are validated prior to being posted. Once prorogation is lifted and Parliament resumes, we will continue to contact more Members of Parliament, and invite them to sign the ClimateFast pledge for politicians.

Closing Vigil

IISD Panel on Fossil Fuel Subsidies

On the last day, we took some time from The Hill to attend A Panel Discussion of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform put on by Sustainable Prosperity and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and . It was a lively discussion of the why and how of fossil fuel subsidy reform. Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) is a project designed to put the spotlight on subsidies and the corrosive effects they can have on environmental quality, economic development and governance.The panelists were Peter Woodgers (IISD's Senior Economist for Climate Change, Energy and Trade) and David Sawyer (an environmental economist) and moderator Mike Cleland. Slides and a video recording will be posted on IISD's site (IISD.ca) in the near future.

Patricia, on behalf of
The ClimateFast Team,
Hungry for Climate Leadership