Leaving for the Tar Sands August 7th

In two days, we leave for the Tar Sands. We will meet up in Edmonton on Thursday evening, and then travel on together. I am recently back from two other canoe trips in Ontario and Quebec, both within 250 km of Ottawa. On both of those trips, like on most of my Canadian canoe trips, I drank the water right out of the lake or river.  It will be different on the Athabasca River through the Tar Sands industrial development and beyond. Even though the trip ends in Ft Chipewyan at 59 degrees N, and adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada’s largest national park and the park containing the Peace-Athabasca Delta, the world’s largest inland delta, we cannot drink the water, and are bringing water for the majority of the trip.

There are five of us going; beside myself there are two Vancouver writers, Judy and Rua, a New York photographer, Brittany, and a political aide (my nephew, Evan) to Canada’s first Green Party MLA, Andrew Weaver. We will be meeting up along the way with a Metis group of paddlers headed up by Sara, a school teacher whose partner, Ron is from Ft Chip. 

I am getting a lot of details ironed out last minute. That is inevitable in the north, where time and schedules take a back seat to the weather and the natural rhythms. This is the first summer in a very long time that my dog, Willow, recently deceased, will not be on the trip. I am sad about the state ot the water on the Athabasca and area, and sad to no longer be accompanied by Willow, who was in my estimation, the best dog in the world. I am very much looking forward to the trip and also, uncomfortable with the destruction, the pollution and the denial which I know we will see. But we will also see the bravery, the good will and the lightheartedness of those working for change, and those living one of the biggest contradictions in the western world. 

                                          Tristan and Willow on the Athabasca River on last year's trip

Victoria Tar Sands Healing Walk June 2014

June 28^th, 2014. Victoria.

The Tar Sands Healing Walk in Victoria. This walk was organized by church groups in Victoria in solidarity with the (5^th and last) Healing Walk held in the Tar Sands, north of Ft McMurray. The latter was organized by local First Nations, mostly the Ft McMurray FN, but supported by First Nations and others from all over the continent. 

I bicycled in to Victoria the previous afternoon from the BC Ferry Terminal in Schwartz Bay. The ride was good but I did not drink much. When I arrived at my friends’, Michael and Ellen, for supper, I foolishly drank only beer and wine. By the end of the evening, I was dehydrated enough that I had a headache, and no amount of drinking of water (I downed 1.5 liters in an hour) helped until hours had passed. In the morning, I was still groggy. 

The day was overcast and warm, and there was a big crowd at the waterfront (later estimated to be 250-300; I estimated 250). We walked and prayed. Prayer is always useful to get the strength to keep fighting. For once, it is the Aboriginal peoples who hold the most powerful cards. More power to them. Above, a stop in front of the Parliament Buildings. I was glad I came to be in solidarity with the people suffering from the  biggest environmental crime in Canadian history. I had a chance to talk to two Dogwood organizers along the way: Kai Nagata and Terry Dance Bellink.

The walk was not as painful as last year in the Tar Sands. Here, there was no gross smell of tar and petroleum products in the air. The city does not look like it has been flattened by carpet bombing. And there was not the enormous constant traffic of the highway going north from Ft Mac. The prayers were not as strong in Victoria for that reason. Walking through the tar sands last year was, I am sure, like walking through Chernobyl in 1986, Fukushima in 2011, Prince William Sound in 1989, the Louisana Gulf Coast in 2010, the Persian Gulf in 1991, or West Virgina mountain top removal areas in the Appalachians any time in the last 25 years. All insane assaults on the Earth.

Support of a friend

Why do I support, and encourage everyone to support my friend Eli and his project?

The answer is very simple. It takes about 10 years to become professional in any field; professional, in a sense of knowing the field of your involvement inside out. You see, there are some areas of our active Canadian life of which we all have to be aware: political landscape, introduction of new and changes to already existing laws, level of democracy, as well as the state of our environment - environment we will be passing on to our children. We all must be aware of the issues affecting our present and future times but, due to our devotion to unrelated activities of choice, we may not always be aware of dramatic changes happening in our own backyards. For this very reason we cast our votes to elect political leaders we trust will protect our freedoms and better our lives. For that very reason we look to appoint professionals to handle the tasks of outmost complexities in various other areas of our collective Canadian being. And for that very reason, I trust my dear friend Eli will act as a professional in defending our nature from ultimate distraction by greedy corporations whose only purpose is to become richer.  

Eli is a professional you want to have on your side, for his PhD in biology, years of living in and studying the problems of the Northern indigenous communities and the artificially induced decay of their lands, and his passionate and long lasting stand on keeping our Canadian home strong and healthy for future generations, are exactly the kind of qualities one needs to be a delegate of the people. 

Eli is starting a new phase of his project, which, I believe, would make a big difference in collecting and presenting the evidence of distraction induced by corporations to OUR land. Without such evidence, it would be impossible to argue unsubstantiated claims made by the government and to prove the wrongdoing by the corporations. 

As you could probably notice, I am not very much familiar with the intimate details of everything that goes on in Athabasca River watershed. The main point of this letter, though, is to say that Eli, whom I had a pleasure meeting in the North few years ago, is a trustworthy, honest, and, most importantly, devoted professional, whose sole objective is to keep our homeland, wherever it may be, free from pollution and ready to welcome the future generations of Canadians. I support Eli in his fight for OUR home’s wellbeing and ask anyone who can lend a hand to actually do so. 

                             Alexander Godkin

Calling all interested paddlers: To go to what should be a beautiful river- but isn't.

Calling all interested paddlers:

“Bearing Witness to the Oil Sands” Project

A canoe trip on the Athabasca River from Ft McMurray (at the confluence of the Clearwater and Athabasca Rivers) to Ft Chipewyan (on Lake Athabasca), August 5 –16, 2014

Purpose:

To bear witness to the impact on people, democracy, wildlife, water, land and air of the Oil Sands Development in northern Alberta by traveling through the area by canoe, experiencing what is taking place and  interviewing local residents. 

To bring more awareness to the Albertan and Canadian populations of what is happening through a variety of media:  radio, film, photography, writing and public presentations. This will be the second year that the organizer, Eli Pivnick, PhD, former research entomologist, wilderness guide, and high school teacher currently living in Kamloops, BC, will be leading this trip. In 2013, there were 10 participants (artists, students, teachers, a scientist, activists, and a musician)  from all over Canada and the US including 4 Aboriginal and 3 Jewish paddlers; and a dog. 

Logistics:    

Where: Edmonton to Ft McMurray by car; Ft McMurray to Ft Chipewyan by canoe; Ft Chipewyan to Ft McMurray by barge; Ft McMurray to Edmonton by car. 

Requirements: Be in good physical shape, and curious and open-minded about the Tar Sands (I mean Oil Sands) development.

Cost: No fee for coming on the trip. Your expenses will vary but a rough estimate for food, car travel, canoe rental (if necessary), and barge trip is approximately $500 per person. 

For more info:   

Contact Eli at elipivnick@ymail.com  or  250-299-3007

OR  look at the previous post with a trip description.