How do you want your tax dollars spent?

 

Image credit: barrie.ca

Why are Canadian taxpayers still subsidizing the oil and gas industry which is making handsome profits?

According to CSIMarket (csimarket.com), in the second quarter of 2022, the net profit margin for the oil and gas production industry was 31.43%, significantly above the industry average; and the gross margin for the industry was 86.46% in the same period.

Both the federal and provincial governments provide financial support to fossil fuel companies through various means, such as tax breaks, direct funding, and public financing. A report by Environmental Defence estimated that in 2023, the federal government provided at least $18.6 billion in support to the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries. This includes $8 billion in loan guarantees for the Trans Mountain pipeline and $7.4 billion in public financing through Export Development Canada.

Here are a few ideas for a more compassionate and less environmentally harmful use of $18 billion from the federal government than lining the pockets of fossil fuel company shareholders:

• Affordable housing
• Childcare subsidies for single parents
• Education
• Healthcare, Pharmacare and Long Term Care
• Improved Disability Benefits
• Universal Basic Income (UBI)

The Cry of the Poor - Laudato Si'

 

Image credit: https://institucionteresiana.org/en/focal-points/the-cry-of-the-earth-cry-of-the-poor

I asked Meta AI, "What does Laudato Si' say about 'The Cry of the Poor'?" 
Laudato Si' is an encyclical written by Pope Francis and released on May 24, 2015. It addresses the interconnectedness of environmental and social issues. Here is the response from Meta AI...

Laudato Si' emphasizes the intimate relationship between the cry of the Poor and the cry of the Earth. Pope Francis stresses that we're facing a single, complex crisis that's both social and environmental ¹. The encyclical highlights how the Earth's degradation disproportionately affects the world's most vulnerable populations, particularly the poor.

The Cry of the Poor

In Laudato Si', Pope Francis identifies two significant injustices experienced by the poor due to the climate crisis. Firstly, they're usually the first affected by extreme weather events, losing their livelihoods and facing displacement ². Secondly, despite contributing minimally to climate change, they bear the brunt of its consequences.

Key Points

- Ecological Debt: The global north owes an "ecological debt" to the global south due to commercial imbalances and disproportionate resource consumption ².

- Vulnerable Groups: The encyclical emphasizes the need to protect human life in all forms, with special attention to indigenous people, migrants, unborn children, and children at risk of modern slavery ³ ⁴.

- Spiritual Crisis: The ecological crisis is also a spiritual crisis, requiring a spiritual conversion to address the root causes of environmental degradation ⁴.

Pope Francis urges us to listen to the cry of the poor and respond with solidarity, advocating for eco-justice and defending human life ¹ ³. By doing so, we can work towards a more equitable and sustainable future for all.

Here are the references for follow up:

1 https://www.jpic-jp.org/en/a/the-cry-of-the-poor-laudato-si-2nd-goal

2 https://ssnd.org/shalom-laudato-si-laudato-si-reflections-response-to-cry-of-the-poor/

3 https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/listening-to-the-cry-of-the-poor/

4 https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/response-to-the-cry-of-the-poor/

Hope and Act with Creation

 

The Season of Creation began September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends tomorrow, October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology.

The theme for the 2024 Season of Creation is "To hope and act with Creation." This annual Christian celebration encourages Christians worldwide to pray and respond to the cry of Creation. The guiding symbol for this year's season is "The first fruits of hope," inspired by Romans 8:19-25.

The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are two sides of the same coin. The cry of one causes the cry of the other.

The times we live in demonstrate that we often view the Earth not as a gift from our Creator but as a resource to be exploited - almost always at the expense of the poor. However, Creation teaches us that hope is present in waiting, in the expectation of a better future. To hope, in the biblical context, doesn't mean remaining still and silent; it means actively groaning, crying out, and struggling for a new life even amidst difficulties. Creation and all human beings are called to worship the Creator and work toward a dynamic future from which the first fruits of hope can spring.

As the season comes to a close, let us reflect on our relationship with the Earth, seek reconciliation with the Earth and with one another, and resolve on meaningful new personal habits to care for our common home.

Season of Creation

 

Advent Reflection: Two gifts that are needed

 After telling us how King Ahaz, St. Paul. and St. Joseph received the gift of divine grace which they in turn passed on to bless and strengthen others, Claretian Fr. Ferdinand Okorie CMF, writing for the Catholic Theological Union, concludes a reflection for the 4th Sunday of Advent as follows:

"Next Sunday, we celebrate and renew our faith in the gift of God’s presence in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and in doing so, we share in the spirit of the season by giving and receiving gifts with our loved ones, and with one another. But I invite you to think beyond the traditional routine of wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree, but rather to discern the impactful gift that your loved ones and the world are in dire need from you today. For our loved ones, trust is ebbing dangerous in our homes and society, affecting our respect and dignity for one another. Rebuilding a culture of trust can go a long way to repair fragile and damaged relationships. For our world, let us remember that every region has experienced a record climate disaster or the other. Time has come to give our world the gift of doing whatever we can to contribute to cutting down our carbon footprints. During this season of giving and receiving gifts, give the gift that is impactful and transformational to one another and to the world." https://learn.ctu.edu/fourth-sunday-of-advent-3/

Rebuilding a culture of trust: Instead of being negative and critical, can I be more positive, affirming and upbuilding? Pray the Prayer of Saint Francis

Cutting down our carbon footprints: Food waste? Plastic? Recycling? Unnecessary travel? Explore Laudato Si' - the encyclical by Pope Francis on the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor

Resources:
Laudato Si' Movement - https://laudatosimovement.org/
Laudato Si' - News and Resources - https://www.laudatosi.org/
Laudato Si' Action Platform - https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/

Image credit: https://cdn3.volusion.com/yhebw.jkdkr/v/vspfiles/photos/10501-2.jpg

Working for Social Justice

 

Does the society of St Vincent de Paul only try to alleviate immediate needs, such as feed the hungry in the spirit of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25?

The following is from clause 3.20 of The Canadian Rule and Statutes of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

The Society is concerned not only with alleviating need but also with identifying injustices that cause it. Therefore, it is committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and contributing to their elimination. In all its charitable actions, there should be a search for justice.

Affirming the dignity of each human being as created in God’s image, Vincentians envision a just society in which the rights, responsibilities and development of all people are promoted. The distinctive approach of Vincentians to issues of social justice is to see them from the perspective of those in need who are suffering from injustice. The Society helps those in need to speak for themselves. When they cannot, the Society must speak on their behalf so that they will not be ignored.

The Society opposes discrimination of all kind and strives, through charity, to foster new attitudes of respect and empathy for the weak, for people of different cultures, religions and ethnic origins, thus contributing to the peace and unity of all the people of the world.

The Society’s vision goes beyond the immediate future and looks towards sustainable development and protection of the environment for the benefit of future generations.

If charity facilitates maintaining an unjust status quo, then it is not true charity but a sop, which is an insult to Christ who lives in the poor.

Does Canada need a law to combat environmental racism?

Image: Steve Greenberg

The following is an excerpt from...

Why Canada needs a law to combat environmental racism

Read the full article here

At a time when health and environmental crises dominate the public conversation, Black History Month in February was a stark reminder of the pervasive environmental struggles racialized communities, past and present, disproportionately face.

This month, there may be good news on the horizon. Nova Scotia Liberal MP Lenore Zann has introduced Bill C-230 in the House of Commons, the National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism Act. It’s scheduled for a March vote.

The historical link between the civil rights and environmental justice movements is widely acknowledged, yet these struggles have become increasingly isolated over time. While environmental laws and regulations have grown exponentially since the NIMBY protests of the 1970s, the concerns of racialized communities have rarely, if ever, been at their forefront.

Instead, environmental governance and zoning regulations have often been deployed against the interests of Black, Indigenous and immigrant communities in North America. Well-known Canadian cases include Ontario’s chemical industry cluster that surrounds the Aamjiwnaang First Nation and Nova Scotia’s hazardous waste siting in historical Africville.

Environmental injustice is just one aspect of the systemic racial discrimination that continues to plague Canada from coast to coast to coast.

In December, researchers Amanda Giang and Kaitlin Castellani from the University of British Columbia published research showing that the cumulative air pollution burden in Canada’s three major cities (Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal) disproportionately affects racialized communities. In Montreal, immigrant residents consistently experience higher cumulative air pollution, while in Toronto, this burden falls on low-income residents. In Vancouver, it’s Indigenous residents. These disparities in exposure to air pollution are just one dimension of the generalized pattern of environmental injustice affecting historically marginalized groups: Indigenous Peoples, racialized newcomers and the urban poor.

Read the rest of this article here.

Season of Creation 2020 - Jubilee for the Earth

 

Endorsed by Pope Francis in 2015 and supported by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the annual month-long ecumenical celebration entitled the Season of Creation will begin on 1 September (World Day of Prayer for Creation) and continue until 4 October 2020 (feast of Saint Francis of Assisi). 

The celebration calls on the global Christian community to promote prayer and action to protect our common home, and is one of the initiatives to celebrate the Special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year which runs from 24 May 2020 until 24 May 2021. The theme for this year’s season is “Jubilee for the Earth”. 

For more information and resources on the Season of Creation, please visit the website at https://seasonofcreation.org/

Reproduced from the website of the  Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)

Resurrection, Not Resuscitation

Following is an extract from a reflection on last Sunday's readings by Stephen Bevans, SVD and
Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD of the Catholic Theological Union. The Gospel was Matthew 14:13-21, the feeding of the multitude.

It is the generous extravagance and abundance of “the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” that we need to keep in mind in this trying, difficult, almost unbearable time in our lives. We are in that “deserted place” and it is “already late.” If you are like me, it’s not just the COVID-19 pandemic that is terrifying — and that is terrifying enough. It is the racism and hatred that has revealed itself, the shocking individualism that is prolonging the agony of these months, the painful call (for some of us — liberating for others!) to revise our history and our heroes, the dangerous disregard for science and real wisdom that is harming an entire generation. It is the disregard for human lives, especially Black lives today, that is making us pant with thirst. It is a refusal to see the harm we are causing to our planet, and to future generations of plants and animals and human children, that is making us faint with hunger. We desperately need the love of God in Jesus to feed us with hope, with compassion, with patience, with perseverance.

Laudato Si' - just some kind of 'green' encyclical about climate change?

Pope Francis has called for special events this week to mark and draw attention to the 5th anniversary of his encyclical, Laudato Si'.

Laudato Si’ Day 7 - #52 One Single Human Family

This is the last in this series of meditations on the Pope's encyclical, Laudato Si', Chapter 1, Section V - Global Inequality.
What does the Pope mean by “structural perversion” and “differentiated responsibilities”?

52. The foreign debt of poor countries has become a way of controlling them, yet this is not the case where ecological debt is concerned. In different ways, developing countries, where the most important reserves of the biosphere are found, continue to fuel the development of richer countries at the cost of their own present and future.