Monday, April 29, 2013

Adopted just three days apart, my friend Miya and I decided to read each other’s adoption letters. Strikingly, the language and tone of the letters were on opposite sides of an emotional spectrum.Miya’s read, “As this child was an abandoned child, her background information about her birth, parents and family are unknown. She was named and her birthdate was estimated by the Seoul City Babies Home.” The word, “abandoned” has stayed with Miya her entire life. She struggles with this word. That word cuts me when I hear it. My other adopted friend, Amy M., pointed out the two uses of this word in the film Somewhere Between, and it angered her. One was spoken by an audience member at a panel discussion, and thethe Albertan tarsands. The US government is now making greener noises making it harder for the Harper government to justify its strident anti-environment / pro-business position. Opposition to pipeline proposals to pump tarsand bitumen south of the border is also gaining ground. Worst of all, shale gas and oil development in the US threaten to undercut the tarsand oil market with cheaper product. Finally, if all that were not enough, the depressed global economy also depresses oil demand, exerting downward pressure on prices. This is not good for the Alberta tarsand industry since it is difficult and expensive to extract and transform.

In this context, one suspects strongly that the Harper government is trying to pretty up its image down south of the border: Canada wants to be seen