As many of you know, I’m heading to Ottawa on Monday December 3rd to raise awareness about the situation in Darfur, Sudan by meeting with MPs, Senators and NGOs while doing a week-long fast. That means I’ll be missing some significant climate change action here in Alberta, but it doesn’t mean you’ll miss it! Here’s some info and background about what’s being planned:

While world leaders meet in Bali, on December 8th several groups in Calgary are collaborating for a rally along seventeenth avenue downtown to demonstrate that we want action on climate change. The rally will begin on 17th Avenue and 8th Street SW and will go East towards the Stampede grounds, beginning at noon.

CLICK HERE to join the Facebook event!

Visit www.climatechaos.ca/ or www.globalclimatecampaign.org/

Also, check out the following video about the action on the 8th:

This week in the Legislature we had the chance to debate Bills 54 and 55, which address a need for interbasin water transfers for use in growing communities in Southern Alberta. In the debate I mentioned: “What we do know is that interfering with natural flows, natural processes, risking in-stream flow needs in some areas, which is the support system for the ecosystem within the river and on the banks of the river, is a dangerous proposition. We seem to be doing this more than once per year just in the last three years. I think that the writing is on the wall, Mr. Speaker. If we don’t start looking at limits to growth on these river systems, we are going to be faced with very severe economic as well as, I think, biological and ecological impacts from this penchant to pipe water from wherever it is presently in abundance to areas where it’s presently or predicted to be in shortage.” Listen to the podcast from my blog, or visit my main webpage, www.davidswann.ca, to read the debates. Despite the concerns that were raised, the bills both passed second reading on Tuesday.

Finally, this week there were meetings held by the government in Calgary and Bragg Creek to seek public input for Kananaskis Park and recreation plans. The public hearings were poorly publicized and it is questionable how serious the government is about listening to people with regards to recreational use of the Kananaskis area considering the overwhelming outcry against logging in the area, which the government has approved.

Click Hereto read my interview with CTV newsnet