Canadian Shelia Watt-Cloutier nominee for Nobel Peace Prize

For the first time in about 50 years a Canadian, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, is up for the Nobel Peace Prize.

(For anyone whose wondering the last was Prime Minster Lester B. Pearson in 1957. Pearson, the father of international peacekeeping, was also the guiding hand behind the creation of NATO, and laid the groundwork for the establishment of Israel.)

"Sheila Watt-Cloutier, OC (born 2 December 1953) is a Canadian Inuit activist. She has been a political representative for Inuit at the regional, national and international levels, most recently as International Chair for Inuit Circumpolar Conference. Watt-Cloutier has worked on a range of social and environmental issues affecting Inuit, and has most recently focused on persistent organic pollutants and global climate change. She has received numerous awards and honors for her work, and has been featured in a number of documentaries and profiled by journalists from all media." (Wikipedia)

In an interview with the CBC yesterday, she described changes she has seen in the North in her lifetime. Dog sled was the main form of travel for much of the year and T-shirt weather was rarely seen. Now, temperatures in the 30s C are not uncommon and swimming in some lakes and rivers is possible. There is no Inuit word for a robin, a bird which has recently made it onto the Northern scene and other birds and many insects such as wasps are also making their home in the Arctic.

Al Gore is another nominee.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, October 12, 11:00 a.m. CET.

The moral compass

Until today, I have been able to tolerate Al Gore because the message he has been circulating about our planet is one that needs to be heard. If I have to put up with his ego to do it, I can. But a sentence in his op-ed in today's NY Times has me boiling.

"Throughout most of our short history, the United States and the American people have provided moral leadership for the world. "

That sentence summarizes exactly what the rest of the world hates about Americans. Americans have been the moral compass for Americans.

But, in case you doubt me, here are some examples of this moral directioning:

- WWII: In 1939, while Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand and Canada declared war on Germany, the U.S. was declaring its neutrality.

- American Native genocide.

- K.K.K.

- Jenna Six

- Iraq.

The list, obviously, could go on. My point is not to attack the U.S. -- many countries including my own could create a similar list -- but the penchant of many Americans to believe in their own superiority while knowing so little of the rest of the world.

I am still going to do my bit for the planet, but, Al, you have got to cut the patriotic rhetoric.

I'll keep my own moral compass pointed North.

And Happy Birthday, Canada! You're not looking too shabby for a 140-year-old.

Colleen