With all the latest updates about BP's efforts to cap the spill making the top of the news feeds daily, we forget that thousands of people may have permanently lost their livelihoods.
The Gulf region has seen many natural catastrophes; mostly the effect of Hurricanes. The difference is that Hurricanes, once they pass, it's a matter of cleaning up and rebuilding. People go about fixing their homes, repairing their boats and getting back to work.
With this disaster, their homes haven't been damaged and their boats remain floating at the marina. However their "work" has disappeared. They sit by helplessly looking out at an ocean that is becoming more and more toxic. This disaster has robbed them of their dignity, their hope and their health.
It is one thing to sit powerlessly by as a "act of God" turns your world upside down, and quite another to watch your world devastated by an act of BP Oil.
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| Alaskan BP Oil Spill 2006 |
Why should we care in Canada?
Beyond the obvious reasons of seafood shortages and possible oil price increases, our government has included in the recently passed so-called budget bill (C-9) a provision that gives the environment minister the power to bypass environmental assessments on major projects.
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