The Great Wildfire Ordeal: A First Hand Account

In mid-May, I had the privilege of speaking by phone to a young man who lived through the perilous Fort McMurray wildfire days. He is the sister of one of our csj Sisters.  He explained that he, his wife and their 12-year-old daughter presently are living in Calgary in his brother’s apartment. They are alive and fortunate but the nightmare they experienced is with them constantly.

On May third, the fire came too close for comfort.  Both he and his wife were working on site at Suncor Energy Ltd.  As the fire leapt toward the site, he contacted his wife but she was unable to leave work.  Quickly, he and a friend jumped into a vehicle and raced to the school to rescue their daughters. He dropped his daughter at home and ordered her to begin packing as he proceeded to drive his friend and his daughter to their home.  The road was packed with vehicles crawling along the road to exit the city. Thus, a 15 minute drive took an hour-and-a-half.  The return trip was the same. Finally, father and daughter were on the road, joining a caravan inching down #63 toward Millenium Suncor camp.  Although husband and wife had been in communication throughout the ordeal, she was on a bus heading to Fort Hills, another huge Suncor camp north of Fort Mc Murray.

The family was separated for two nights but my friend was able to go by pickup truck from Millenium Camp to Fort Hills and return with his wife to Millenium Camp. The family was together for twenty-four hours when they were air lifted to an airport ironically named Fire Bag.  Picture sixteen greyhound buses arriving at Fire Bag where ten West Jet planes awaited them to fly several thousand people to Calgary or Edmonton!  It was a colossal undertaking in stressful circumstances.

Once safely in Edmonton and Calgary, ground transportation was provided to take the rescuees to either place as the passengers requested. My friend and his family went to his brother’s apartment in Calgary.

On May 12^th, Suncor summoned my friend, who is a safety advisor at the oil sands, to return to Fort McMurray to get the oil operation up and running in anticipation of bringing back workers to the sites.  Smoke remained noticeable but skies were clear. However, without warning, the fire returned with a vengeance, literally chasing workers as they leaped into the nearest company vehicles and raced to Calgary where they waited for the raging inferno to lose power and control.

Good news arrived on May 28^th when my friend was flown back to Fort McMurray.  The treasured family home is still standing in the Timberly area situated on a hill a small distance from town.  It has not been damaged by the fire or water but has a smell of smoke. There was no electricity outage and appliances are working – a miracle indeed. On June 4^th weekend, his wife and daughter will return from Calgary.

This brave family along with countless others who have been through the great wildfire ordeal, is aware of prayers and support from Canadians.  My friend pointed out that there are many heroes: first responders, firefighters, the Red Cross to name a few.  Such support will continue to assist in the restoration of Fort McMurray in the months and years to come.

Jean Moylan CSJ

Hope, Historical Perspective and "Sunny Ways"

As we face continuing low oil prices, a low dollar, rising food costs, and increased use of local Food Banks, hope, especially in Alberta, is low. Towards the end of January 2016 prices were especially low. Gloom and doom were almost tangible as we heard of more and more layoffs in the oil patch and in related industries.  There was a bad joke going around; even the comedian, who shared it, said it was bad. Then, the price of a barrel of oil was around $21 a barrel and cauliflower was seven dollars a head. The joke went like this: “Hey, did you hear the news? You can get three heads of cauliflower for a barrel of oil.” That joke described how bad things were. People were feeling down and depressed. Most people knew someone, a family member or friend, who was out of work or took a cut in pay and worked longer hours to keep their job. Some people were feeling hopeless. Media was playing a part too, day after day, by stating this was the lowest price for oil or the dollar since 2002, 2008 etc. Most reports were negative and in my opinion fostered even more gloom and doom. About this time the former Premier of Alberta, Don Getty, died; reports were that during his tenure oil prices were even lower than those we have just experienced. Premier Getty’s government rode out that bust and we went on to experience several more booms and busts in Alberta.

This got me thinking about historical perspective. If we know our history we can better deal with booms and busts. Depression, anxiety and fear paralyze. Those who know the past can better deal with the economic ups and downs of global economics. They can see the patterns and responses of the past and respond accordingly. They have hope and hope helps turn things around; it does not depress as do repeated gloom and doom scenarios. Constant negativity begets more negativity. A positive attitude even in the midst of difficult economic times can make a difference. I think of Sir Wilfred Laurier’s “sunny ways" that Prime Minister Trudeau has adopted. These “sunny ways”, not pollyanna ways, do foster hope. When we put things in perspective we can usually find hope and a positive way to move forward. Things may get worse especially as EI programs run down. However, recently we have seen oil prices and the dollar go up. As Christians prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mystery and the great feast of hope, the Resurrection of Jesus, we focus on hope in Jesus who through his passion, death and resurrection has overcome the power of sin and death. We look forward in joyful hope trusting that “all will be well” as we do our best in these difficult times and trust in the resiliency that is part of our humanity.

Lynn Rouleau, CSJ

Alberta’s Climate Plan: Game Changed

Ever have one of those days when all the assumptions you had about an issue turned upside down? Today (November 22^nd) is one of those days.

Addressing climate change in Canada has long been an intractable problem. This is because, despite the slowly transforming economies and declining carbon pollution emissions in Ontario, Quebec and B.C., Alberta’s emissions were growing at a breakneck pace and wiping out the reductions happening everywhere else. As a result Canadian governments were left with two options: deny or avoid the problem, or force change on Alberta.

Needless to say previous federal governments have consistently chosen door one.

But today’s climate change announcement in Alberta could change all that forever. The new plan will:

• Cap the carbon emissions from the tar sands at 100 MT and eventually force them to decline
• Close the fleet of coal electricity plants by 2030, drastically reducing both deadly local air pollution and also massive amounts of carbon emissions
• Increase the amount of renewable electricity on the grid to 30% by the same year
• See Alberta join with Ontario, Quebec and B.C. in putting a price on carbon pollution. Alberta’s price will start at $20/year in 2017, rise to $30 in 2018 and then rise annually. Money from the fee will be invested in programs to further reduce carbon emissions and help to ensure that price increases don’t harm citizens with limited income
• Significantly reduce waste methane emissions from oil and gas wells that are also important causes of climate change

This is a historic moment for Alberta and Canada. This is a commitment to tangible and aggressive climate action and we all should applaud Alberta for this huge change in direction.

Based on this announcement, Alberta’s carbon pollution should soon peak and start to decline. This is a fundamental pivot after years of uncontrolled carbon emissions growth and it removes one of the largest barriers to developing a meaningful Canadian climate strategy.

This announcement also sets Alberta on a path toward diversifying its economy and recognizing that a global transition away from fossil fuels is essential if the world as we know it is to survive. The money collected from a new price on carbon pollution can be invested in more energy efficient homes and businesses, new clean technology and renewable energy jobs.

With this move from Alberta, there is now nothing standing in the federal government’s way of developing a credible climate strategy and following Alberta’s lead by setting a limit on carbon pollution in Canada. Canada can now move ahead and fulfill its promise to cut carbon pollution in line with global science-based targets. 

Today’s announcement is very good news for Albertans and Canadians. It will help protect us all from dangerous climate change, set the scene for Canada to restore our good name, and places the country and the province in a solid position to harness the opportunities for growth in a clean economy.

This is the beginning of something new, folks. I am looking forward to a new Canada on the stage in Paris at the U.N. climate negotiations.

Guest blogger, Tim Gray, Executive Director of Environment Defence www.environmentaldefence.ca/