Climate Change for Christmas

by Nick Moase/The Advance

MP Gerald Keddy got an early Christmas present last week, although it probably wasn’t what he was hoping for.

Oxfam Canada and the Ecology Action Centre delivered a 15-foot oil barrel to Keddy’s office, to tell the politician and his Conservative colleagues that it’s time for an “oil change.”

The action builds on a weekend of activities aimed at convincing the Canadian government to change its stance at climate negotiations currently underway in Copenhagen. Instead of blocking a fair, ambitious deal, Canadians want their federal government to take immediate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Let’s make no mistake: our pollution is destroying the lives and livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable people,” Oxfam Canada Regional Outreach Officer Brian O’Neill said. “We need to stop harming and start helping.”

O’Neill and a small group of area residents delivered the giant, mock oil barrel and sang a few modified “climate carols.”

The stunt is part of thousands of events taking place in hundreds of countries as part of “The World Wants a Real Deal” actions coordinated by the TckTckTck campaign to urge world leaders to take bold and immediate steps to sign binding climate deal in Copenhagen.

Prime Minister Stephan Harper is taking part in the talks at Copenhagen, however before the talks began Harper said Canada would do no more than the United States to fight climate change.

This, along with the Alberta tar-sands, has drawn heavy fire from countries all around the world.

A Harris-Decima poll recently released showed 84 per cent of Canadians think this government is failing on the environment. So far, the Canadian government has been considered a laggard in the negotiations, earning numerous “Fossil of the Day” awards and refusing to reconsider the impact development of Alberta’s tar-sands is having on the planet’s health.
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