Ottawa Grans infiltrate Canadian Club lunch where President of Energy East Pipeline was speaking.
Armed with two banners and four tickets at $40 each (senior rate), members of the Ottawa Raging Grannies infiltrated a Canadian Club lunch where the corporate group gathered to hear the President of Energy East, Francois Poirer, praise the pipeline. The grannies wanted to bring a different message to the crowd and to the press. During his speech, Grannies Bessa, Gale, Jo and Ria stood, unfurled banners smuggled inside their purses, and walked silently to stand in front of the speaker. The banners said “You can’t drink oil” and “Stop Energy East”. ...
Read MoreOttawa Raging Grannies join environmental groups in Energy East Pipeline protest.
The Premiers meeting in the Delta Hotel was too much to resist as a venue for protesting the Ottawa East Pipeline, particularly making the point that the Elephant in the Room is climate change. Along with Ecology Ottawa, Council of Canadians, Greenpeace Canada and 350.org, we turned up with a large elephant and elephant signs. Bessa, Gale, Jo, Leslie Anne, Linda, Martha, Pat, Ria, and Terrie all braved the windy, cold day to hold our signs and sing two songs created just for the occassion: “There’s an elephant in the room” and “The elephant in the room.”...
Read MoreThere’s an elephant in the room!
(Tune: Found a Peanut) There’s an elephant (x3) in the room Though the Premiers they ignore it There’s an elephant in the room There’s an elephant (x3) in the room All around us climate changes There’s an elephant in the room. There are floods and global warming Storms we’ve never seen before There are holes up in the ozone Oceans creeping up the shore. Underground there will be pipelines More pollution they will make We’ll have oil spills, lots of carbon Cleaning up’s no piece of cake. They ignore it, they have blinkers ...
Read MoreThe Elephant in the Room
(Tune: The Farmer in the Dell) The elephant in the room (x2) The Premiers they don’t want to see The elephant in the room. The elephant in the room(x2) It’s the Energy East pollutionto Increase our planet’s doom. The oil will never splll (x2) Never, never speak of it The oil will never spill. The pipes will never crack (x2) The pipes will last forever more The pipes will never crack. And even if they break And spill out all the muck Won’t take them more than 40 years To clean up all the guck. The tar sands will grow Premiers...
Read MoreCathleen’s “GottaGo!” letter in the Ottawa Citizen
Provide safe, accessible LRT toilets 31 January, 2015 It is hard to believe that a citizen’s group (GottaGo! campaign) has had to form to advocate for toilets in our new LRT line. With an estimated 10,000 people per hour going through the system, the need for public facilities is surely blindingly obvious? Not only is this a public health issue (as in, what happens when someone’s “gotta go” and there is no facility available?), it is also an equity issue, as pregnant women, the elderly, and those with chronic disease or even small children, may be effectively confined to their homes...
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