Canoeing through the oil sands filled me with sadness. I wasn't alone. For two days, our flotilla of seventeen boats paddled past massive industrial landscapes: Clear-cut forests, barren landscapes, lakes of wastewater, smokestacks, and the constant grumbling of trucks. How can we allow this to happen to the land around us?
On to Fort Chipewyan
The light at the end of the tunnel on the Athabasca is the community of Fort Chipewyan. The oldest European settlement in Alberta is filled with amazing history and wonderful people. The pace of life is much slower - and being somewhat isolated, there is a strong sense of community. Fort Chipewyan sits atop the magnificent Canadian shield and I was fortunate to paddle this stretch with some great friends. One night we were mesmerized by the setting sun to the south and chose to canoe until midnight under spectacular northern lights that seemed to come out just for us. Upon arriving to Fort Chipewyan, we were warmly greeted by George Poitras of the Mikisew Cree who shared with us brilliant warm meals cooked over an open fire.
Rally to halt oil sands developments
While in Fort Chipewyan, a number of high-caliber individuals from the community spoke about the impacts of over-industrial development that they are receiving. Unanimously, chiefs and elders representing the three first nations communities spoke resoundingly called for a halt on new approvals of oil sands projects and to clean up the legacy of major ecological damage that has already been created. Fort Chipewyan is seeing disproportionate rates of rare forms of cancer in their community and are unsure where this is coming from. Experts from around North America echoed calls to halt the environmental destruction. Many media representatives were there to cover the rally.
Penny for your thoughts?
On our last night in Fort Chipewyan, I was having a particularly difficult time sleeping. My head was filled with a vast array of thoughts. Did we do enough to help these people in Fort Chipewyan? Could an interview have gone better? Did we receive enough media? Were we able to reveal the true picture up here? At 4:00 AM, after a late evening of goodbyes to new friends, I was lying wide awake. I had to do something that made sense...
So, I portaged my canoe down to the wharf on Lake Athabasca and did what I had been doing for the past two months...put paddle to water. There is something so spectacularly simple that you just never become expert at when you canoe. At 5:00 am I danced on the calm morning water under the sunrise. When I became tired of practicing maneuvers, I pulled my boat up on the Canadian Shield shoreline and sat staring at the endless horizon of Lake Athabasca coming to life under the morning sun.
As I touched down in Calgary, I saw the vastness of the city sprawling rapidly into the prairie landscape - I was reminded instantly of the mindless expansion of oil sands development. It will take some time to adjust to my new surroundings.
