apologies for not being as entertaining

Hey everyone, i know i have not been as entertaining lately...but i think this stuff is pretty important. The federal government is currently accepting Briefings for official hearings in Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa (and unofficial hearings in Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan). So i wrote a briefing and submitted it to Jim Bezan (Chair of the Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development) at Ottawa@jamesbezan.com

If you would like to send this briefing out, please feel free to do so...in fact, i encourage you to do so! Also, if you could translate it or know someone who could...please let me know! LOVE!

and more entertaining posts to come.....

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Dear Jim Bezan (Chair of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development):

There are many Canadian organizations as well as international organizations which are trying to show their concern for the expansion of the Tar Sands industry in Northern Alberta. My name is Maryam Adrangi and I am a member of the Sierra Youth Coalition Executive Committee, the Canadian Water Network’s Student and Young Professional Committee, and the Rainforest Action Network Toronto. I am among many concerned and informed citizens who believe that the Alberta Provincial government and the Canadian Federal Government can play a larger role in controlling the harmful effects of the tar sands industry.

Several reasons that governing bodies need to play a larger role in controlling the Alberta Tar Sands:

Issue: The expansion of the Tar Sands is jeopardizing the health and livelihood of people in neighbouring communities
· Communities living in the Athabasca watershed are facing water shortages due to the tar sands industry which uses, on average, 3 barrels of freshwater to produce one barrel of tar sands oil
· Natural Resources Canada states that tailings ponds created by the industry contain high levels of carcinogenic contaminants such as phenols, benzene, cyanide, and heavy metals such as arsenic. These contaminants are seeping into groundwater resources
· More cases of rare cancers are being seen in communities living downstream from tar sands operations, and federal and provincial governments as well as industry are refusing to believe it is due to the oil industry—yet there is no evidence/credible research to prove otherwise
· High levels of contaminants, such as heavy metals (mercury, arsenic, etc.) in water systems are threatening fish populations by showing mutations and birth defects, and are no longer available for human consumption and were formerly a large part of First Nations traditional diet.
· Deforestation rates have increased due to tar sands expansion, jeopardizing local communities’, particularly First Nations People’s, ability to maintain safe, healthy, and traditional lifestyles.

Recommendations
· That both provincial and federal government require that oil companies abide by the principles of free, informed, and prior consent when intending to develop on First Nation’s territory, unceded or not.
· That provincial and federal government address the adverse health effects the industry has on local peoples by having official hearings in impacted communities, including Fort McMurray, Fort Chipewyan, and Fort McKay
· That provincial and federal governments put a moratorium on further development of the tar sands until effective, clear, and transparent studies are done and made public (including methodology) to explore the link between human health effects and the environment



Issue: Market interests are given greater priority than Canadian Interests
· Alberta’s royalty rates remain among the world’s lowest, creating an optimal environment in which companies would want to expand their businesses, but discounting the profit that Canadian’s or the Canadian government could be receiving from the existing operations
· Neither the provincial nor federal government have regulations or policies in place to make tar sands expansion unappealing
· Almost all, if not all, proposals for bitumen extraction have been approved, and there is little demand for operational or fiscal transparency in the oil production process
· Over half of tar sands oil is exported to the United States of America, providing the USA with dirty oil at the environmental, social, and economic expense of Canadian citizens.

Recommendations
· That both the federal or provincial government increase their royalty rates, making the tar sands less appealing to industry, halting the expansion, but still providing economic revenue for Canadian governments as they shift to renewable energy sources
· That the government demand transparent reporting and fiscal accounting, and make these documents available to the public
· Both the provincial and federal government put a cap on the number of mining proposals approved
· That Canada reassess its national energy policy, calling into question its energy exporting obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Security and Prosperity Parnership (SPP) which will likely lead to more transmission lines and pipelines



Issue: The Alberta Tar Sands have large, detrimental environmental impacts to the Boreal Forest
· The industry requires that large amounts of Boreal Forest are destroyed, clear cutting vast amounts of old-growth forests and turning these areas into barren land with none of the ecological benefits provided by forests such as water and air purification, and soil stabilization
· The area of land that has been leased to oil companies could fit the entire Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks (about 9,000 square miles which includes Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay) about six times
· Many oil companies spend a marginal amount of their budget on land reclamation, emphasizing the lack of concern for this part of the extraction process (“Syncrude, a leader in land reclamation, spent one-fifth of 1 per cent of its budget on reclamation in 2005.” Nikiforuk, 2008)

Recommendation:
· Both provincial and federal government must demand that companies spend at least 30% of their overall budget on land reclamation (as it is just as important, if not more so, than extraction) and ensure that they fully restore the land in 5 years. If they cannot do so, the company’s proposal should not be approved.
· Demand that oil companies show proper planning to not only reclaim used land, but to protect surrounding lands during the extraction process. If these plans are not in place, the company’s proposal should not be approved
· The federal and provincial government must carefully monitor companies’ progress on reclamation, fining companies which neglect regulations
· The provincial government, federal government, and oil companies must make their reclamation plans and operations more transparent so that citizens can ensure that companies are accountable.
· The provincial and federal government should find non-partisan contractors (not those financed by, hired by, or made up of members of oil and gas companies) to conduct environmental impact assessments including assessments of quality of soil, water, air, and plant life.
· Make these studies, including methodology accessible to the public



Issue: The Alberta Tar Sands are preventing Canada from meeting their Kyoto targets and from being a leader in International Climate Change issues
· Producing oil from bitumen can create up to 5 times more greenhouse gases than does producing oil from conventional sources, thus jeopardizing Canada’s ability to meet Kyoto targets
· Canada has spent over $6 billion dollars on climate-change programs for the last fifteen years, and has not met a single Kyoto target
· The Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-311) passed in the House of Commons requires the federal government to set regulations to reduce emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 (Canada’s original obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), and allowing tar sands expansion would show the federal and provincial government’s neglect for their own laws, as well as their original Kyoto agreements, if this bill passes and becomes law.

Recommendation
· That Canada respect its obligations and agreements under the Kyoto Protocol and recognize that Tar Sands expansion is preventing Canada from meeting those targets
· That Canada show leadership in shifting to a new green energy economy by investing in the expansion of the renewable energy sector, recognizing the industry’s long-term benefits and potential to create more jobs than the tar sands industry
· Stop approving new proposals for bitumen mining and Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) operations in Canada
· That environmental justice and the right to a healthy and productive environment be enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms


Thank you very much and I hope to hear soon

-Maryam Adrangi

craigslist and kijiji are a sham...

maybe they are not necessarily a sham...but they are definately not the best way to get rid of your apartment

as i mentioned in previous posts, my roomate and i have been looking for ppl to take over our sublet. People have been coming in for the past week, checking out the place, and not really liking it. And they should all get over themselves as opposed to giving ME crap that they have not found their ideal apartment. They talk as if they either want me to change the apartment or look for their's...not happening!

So to de-stress, i have picked up hot yoga. :) I was running out of my apartment with my bike and my yoga mat, struggling to hold every door in my path, of which there are many before i actually leave the building. I was finally at the last door when i saw two boys looking at the buzzers numbers of tenants. One guy pointed at me and yelled "VENEZUELA."

I looked over at him because he was pointing at me. but i had no idea what to respond to the dude's venezuela comment. "umm....no.." and i kept on hurrying, since i was really late and i knew i needed to flee the situation. "Colombia. Ecuador." No NO! Whats going on..wait..yes? Ecuador? aaa...why am i answering "yes" to Ecuador...i need to go to yoga

"DO YOU SPEAK SPANISH?" he yelled at me. ughh...."yes"

I slowed down and groaned. "do you guys need to get in?" i asked in spanish. 

"No, we are wondering if there are any rooms to rent in this building." The lightbulb went off.

"How long do you need it for?"

"Until August."

"Well...my roommate and i are trying to get rent out our place until august. Do you want to see it."

"YES," said one of the boys enthusiastically, as the other one looked both to me and then his friend and nodded. It turned out that his friend didnt speak spanish, but was actually brasilian. I showed both of them the apartment and spoke the entire time in spanish, barely keeping in mind that i was talking to a mexican who was doing nothing but checking me out, and a brasilian who nodded at everything and understood nothing.

They loved the place and said they would take it. moral of the story...posting on craigslist and kijiji dont work. Looking latina does. 

While i love these community sharing/shopping sites and feel that there are great benefits, i have received  A LOT of emails and responses to my postings. Some people are nicer than others. Today i received an email from someone who said i should "have the decency to tell someone that they did not have an apartment after i had told them that they did." In fact, i never told this bozo that he had the apartment.  I told him that we would give it to the first person that put down a deposit and signed the lease...then i became an indecent person. Well maybe YOU should have the decency to not assume that i spend all my time and effort worrying about YOUR feelings. And i can live with myself being indecent. he cannot. 

And showing the house is a completely different story. i have had a surprising number of guys check me out. i would prefer it if you looked at my face when i told you the rent was not negotiable, not my chest. and i am changing my fone number on june 1st.

its been too long, but not long gone (there is almost no point to this post)

so it has been almost a month since i have last posted, and to all of my faithful followers...i truly apologize. i did not mean to give you folk the impression that i have abandoned/forgot about you or my blog!

so love!

has nothing happened in the past month? is that why i am not writing?

do i no longer find humour in my banal life? is that why i am not writing?

am i so busy that i no longer have time for writing? is that why i am not writing?

i do not know the answers to these deep and profound rhetorical questions. Except that the answers are No, Yes, and I guess so...

Lets discuss shall we...

Has nothing happened in the past month? NO.
Of course stuff has happened. In the past month i have continued to couch surf and...its been quite an experience. Since the last post i have slept on my cousin's couch, my friend's couch, and my own couch. My roommate and I moved into a furnished apartment, but as far as beds go...we have one single bed and one futon. Both of which we used to call "sex-proof" because you cannot have sex in them without hearing very VERY loud and awful screeching in the other room. But in all honesty, it is not just that these beds are "sex-proof," but are more acurately, "inhaling-proof."

Along with moving into a new place in the beginning of May, my roommate and i also decided we wanted to move out of this exact place at the end of May. The apartment was just not up to our standards. My cousin even came with me before i signed the sublet lease to give me that extra clarity that you always need when househunting, but he obviously failed to provide it. What originally seemed like a clean, safe, well-priced apartment became a dirty (really dirty...probably the subject of a future post), small apartment with awful sublettees (or subletters? the ppl who subletted to us).

We then had to go through the stress of finding a new apartment for June-August, as well as trying to rent out this shitty apartment. Instead of using the internet to check out globe and mail and new york times, i now had craigslist and kijiji bookmarked...both of which failed to help us out in finding sublet victims to the dive in which we live (also topic of a future blog post).

Anyways...i could go on, but i wont. (wait for future blog posts)

I no longer find humour in my banal life? True
This is probably the result of my life being blasé (synonym for banal)

Am i so busy that I no longer have time for writing? I guess?
Oh geez! i have definately been too busy for writing. I have been too busy to sit down, relax, and just write. My time has been filled up with answering inquiries about craigslist, telling annoying house-hunters that i will not negotiate the price and that if the apartment is too expensive or not nice enough then it is OBVIOUSLY not what they are looking for. Im sorry that there is no double bed...i am not buying you one to put in the apartment. I am sorry that the door is really heavy...i am not gonna stand here for June-August and open it for you. I am sorry that you want to move in early...where do you expect us to go? And i really dont care about your issue with parking...i wish my bike lock wasnt so heavy. One guy condescendingly kept pressuring me to inquire about parking, telling me "that parking is a really big issue in the city, you know." Umm....its not AN issue..its YOUR issue. So get over it. Do you want the apartment or not? No? Okay, now get off my property and out of my face. Once you leave, Im gonna continue stealing free wireless and watching free cable. Ciao! And when i am done, im gonna hop over to a really cute street around the corner of my "cozy" apartment and sit out on a patio of one of the picturesque little cafes and drink a cappuccino and forget that you tried to ruin my day!

Maybe i do have the perfect apartment....