Harper Oil Spill
On Thursday, June 17, with the G8/G20 summits just around the corner, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper led a procession of wealthy bankers through the streets of Toronto.
Harper and his bankers were followed by a human oil slick. Overworked tax-payers scrambled behind the oil slick with mops and brooms to clean up the mess while Harper and his bankers counted their giant $1billion bills.
The action, which was organized by the At the Table Coalition, was a tongue-in-cheek commentary on spending for the G8 and G20 summits when foreign aid has been frozen and Canada’s fair share on climate adaptation has yet to be paid.
Stephen Harper leading a procession of wealthy bankers through the financial district of downtown Toronto.
Marching with Stephen Harper, wealthy bankers count their giant billion dollar bills.
The text on the billion dollar bills read: "the winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. Now they're almost gone and I miss the outdoor rinks."
Harper and his bankers were followed closely by a human oil spill.
Human Oil Spill
Oil
The human oil spill was followed by a group of overworked tax payers cleaning up the mess.
Tax payers cleaning up the mess behind by Harper and the bankers.
Banker steals from tax payer.
Harper makes sure the tax payers don't miss a spot.
$450+ billion from the Robin Hood Tax.
More info on the Financial Transaction (aka Robin Hood) Tax HERE
The human oil spill passes by the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Banker profits from oil spill.
$173 billion a year saved by renewable energy.
Harper Oil Spill
Harper dancing around the issues.
Invest in the future now.
Mommy worries about the future.
More information at: atthetable2010.org
Robin Hood Financial Transaction Tax
Robin Hood and Fair Maidens
On Tuesday April 20, blurry eyed Torontonians were greeted by a fabled character on their early morning commute. Starting at Yonge and Sheppard station three fearless actors performed skits on subway cars down the Yonge line to Union Station introducing the public to the Robin Hood Tax. (read on at robinhoodtax.ca)
Below is a video of this action that I made for Oxfam.
Find out more about the Robin Hood tax at robinhoodtax.ca
See more of my photos of this event on Oxfam Canada’s Flikr Page
Oxfam Trailwalker Canada
Toronto, ON – May 26, 2009 – Forget Ironman. Forget the Amazing Race. Meet Oxfam Trailwalker, the world’s toughest team challenge. Making its North American debut in Ontario
the weekend of July 24th – 26th, 2009, Trailwalker is considered one of the most demanding outdoor physical challenges on Earth.
Eventual winners, "Team Body Battle" prepare at the starting point. "Team Body Battle" finished the course in 20 hours.
Starting at the historic Fort Willow Depot in Springwater, Ontario, teams of four hiked 100 challenging kilometers along the Ganaraska Trail System, ending at Wasaga Beach on the
shore of beautiful Georgian Bay. But that’s not all – each team had to cross the finish line – together – all under a 48 hour deadline.
The teams set off at the start line
Originating in Hong Kong in the 1980s as a training exercise of the elite military unit, the Queen’s Gurkhas, Oxfam Trailwalker has gained international recognition and now takes place
in Hong Kong, Australia, England, Japan, New Zealand, Belgium and for the first time this year, events are scheduled in The Netherlands, Ireland and Canada.
One participant gets stuck in the mud.
Recommending that teams not rest or sleep for more than 3 to 4 hours at a time, participants were given a maximum of 48 hours to complete the challenge. As well as requiring the utmost from each team member physically, each team also committed to raise a minimum of $2,500, in support of Oxfam’s community development and humanitarian relief efforts worldwide.
Oxfam Canada Trailwalker 2009
“Trailwalker is a one-of-a-kind event,” said Nicole Salmon, Director of Development at Oxfam Canada. “It offers people an incredibly satisfying personal achievement and is a great experience to share with friends and family, while helping those most in need.”
Trailwalker markers along the path ensured that no one got lost.
Trailwalker also offers unique personal growth and training opportunities for Canadian athletes and competitors, such as curlers Craig Savill and Brent Laing. As 2007 World Champions, Savill and Laing are currently in training for the National Trials in Edmonton, competing for the chance to represent Canada at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. “Trailwalker is the perfect training exercise for our team,” says Savill. “It gives us the opportunity to improve our athletic endurance and at the same time reinforces our ability to work as a team – supporting and relying on one another.”
Crossing the finish line, olympic curlers, Brent Laing and Craig Savill, used Trailwalkers as part of their training for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.
Hundreds of Canadian volunteers registered to support the event and help meet Oxfam’s goal of aiding in the lives of women, men and children living in poverty around the world. Globally, Oxfam Trailwalker is a positive force for change. The Trailwalker Hong Kong event currently sells out with almost 4,000 participants per year. “As the inaugural North American stop for Trailwalker, Canadians can be thrilled to join the prestigious ranks of host locations across the globe,” says Salmon. “While Canadians have a keen competitive edge, we are also kind and generous by nature. Trailwalker is the perfect opportunity for participants to achieve personal development while demonstrating compassion and support for those most in need.”
Oxfam Canada Trailwalker 2009
About Oxfam Trailwalker
Oxfam Trailwalker began in 1981 in Hong Kong, and has since grown into one of the world’s leading sporting challenges. In just over 20 years, Oxfam Trailwalker has become a major international fundraising event held in over eight countries. Since its inception, the event has raised millions of dollars internationally with thousands of people competing each year.
Oxfam Canada Trailwalker 2009
About Oxfam Canada
Oxfam Canada fights poverty and injustice in developing countries with a strong commitment to women’s rights and equality between women and men. Oxfam Canada is a member of Oxfam International, a federation of thirteen autonomous non-governmental organizations. Together, Oxfam works to tackle the root causes of poverty, social injustice and inequality. Founded in 1963, Oxfam Canada supports community programs that develop leadership, self-reliance and active citizenship.
Oxfam Canada Trailwalker 2009
Approaching the finish line!
Exhausted participants approaching the Finish line.
Oxfam Canada Trailwalker 2009
Oxfam Canada Trailwalker 2009
The last team crosses the finish line
Participants celebrate their acheivements after crossing the finish line.
See more of my photos from Oxfam Trailwalker Canada here
find out more about Oxfam Canada
The Effects of Climate Change are the Greatest Threat to Humanity – Oxfam
Oxfam’s recent report, Suffering the Science – Climate Change, People and Poverty, argues that the effects of climate change pose the greatest threat to humanity. The following are a few excerpts from the report, illustrated with some of my photos:
Flooding in the Philippines
The report combines the latest scientific observations on climate change, and evidence from Oxfam’s work in almost 100 countries around the world.
Mother and children on the streets of Bangladesh.
“Women living in poverty, who already face a daily struggle to survive, are being hit the hardest,” – Robert Fox, executive director of Oxfam Canada.
Flooding in the Philippines
A survey of top climate scientists, also published by Oxfam, said poor people living in low-lying coastal areas, island atolls and mega deltas and farmers are most at risk from climate change because of flooding and prolonged drought. The scientists named South Asia and Africa as climate change hotspots.
Drought in Tanzania
Growing rice in the Philippines
More people on the planet depend on rice than on any other crop. Rice plants react very quickly to temperature change: they show a 10% drop in yield for every 1ºC rise in minimum temperature. In parts of the Philippines, farmers have had to stop growing rice completely during the droughts caused by the ‘El Nino’ years, and river delta and coastal rice production has already suffered badly accross South-East Asia because of storms that overwhelm sea defences and salt-water intrusion into paddy fields.
Eating rice and fish in the Philippines.
An Asian Development Bank report warns that rice production in the Philippines could drop by 50-70 per cent as early as 2020.
Fisherman in Tanzania
Crops are only one part of the food story. Fish stocks are also endangered by climate change — threatening the loss of a significant source of protein and income for the 2.6billion people who get 20 per cent of their protein from fish. In many countries, dependence on fish consumption increases with poverty. In addition, 500 million people in developing countries depend — directly or indirectly — on fisheries for their livelihoods.
Fisherman in the Philippines
Both wild and farmed fish are threatened by a whole range of climate-driven problems — from raised sea levels and floods that damage fish farms on coasts and in river areas, to the increasin acidification of the oceans as a result of GHG emissions. A recent study suggests that 90 per cent of the food resources of the ‘coral triangle’ of the western Pacific will be gone by 2050, potentially affecting 150million people.
Health problems in Tanzania
In the last few months, several bodies including the Commonwealth countries’ health ministers have concluded that climate change is the greatest threat to health globally this century. The poorest and hottest countries will suffer the most. The loss of healthy life years as a result of global environmental change is predicted to be 500 times greater amongst poor African populations than amongst European populations. Climate change-driven alterations in patterns of disease and illness are already occurring globally, and 99 per cent of the casualties of climate change now are in developing countries.
Urban slums in Bangladesh
Rapid urbanization — which can be spurred by climatic factors as people seek new livelihoods in cities — brings disease with it. Urban sprawls often lack health infrastructure, and migrant workers may not be able to afford care and medicine. Some of the worst health statistics emanate from cities.
Escaping the heat in Tanzania
Small increases in temperatures hit human beings hard. None of us, no matter how well acclimatised, can do heavy work effectively above 35ºC or so. A couple of degrees higher than that, and our bodies soon get exhausted. Once core body temperature passes 38ºC, heat stress may set in. The body tries to cool down by sweating; dehydration may follow. People’s work rate slows. Ultimately, production and incomes decline.
Rice farmer in Bangladesh.
“Working under the open sky during summer has become nearly impossible in the past four years or so — for farmers and their cattle alike.” — Mir Ahmed, Bangladeshi farmer.
Getting water in Tanzania
Finding and transporting clean water is a central occupation in the working day of many people in developing countries, especially women. When a community is short of food, or suffering an outbreak of desease, there are immediate ways in which they can be helped. However, scarcity of water is a much greater problem. According to the UN Development Programme, over one billion people lack access to safe water today, and that number can only increase.
2009 is one of the most important years in human history. In Copenhagen in December, politicians will meet at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Climate Change Convention. This meeting will decide whether we face a future on a hot glowering planet, or whether we set a course for climate safety for everyone.
see the full report for more information and references.
