Aftermath

We arrived at the entry to the Prime Minister's office shortly after noon on Monday, October 20 to a cheering crowd of 50 people.

Dewan's speech was uplifting. Rita's and mine were not particularly. We're worried about the implications of a government headed by Mr. Harper determining the delegation that Canada sends to negotiate global climate treaties for the post-Kyoto period. The Earth hangs in the balance. Still, I want to thank Andrea Harden of the Council of Canadians and Katherine Sullivan of the Canadian Federation of Students for following with a positive message. The Raging Grannies ended with a song and everyone joined in.

Afterwards, Rita delivered our letters to Prime Minister Harper. This is a process that's becoming rather intimidating. You speak to a security person through several layers of glass. After describing what you want to deposit, he opens the lock to a large metal bin, into which you drop your correspondence. Apparently, your letters aren't even delivered directly to the Prime Minister. They are scanned for security.

Afterwards, we walked to Ottawa's City Hall and spoke to two supportive city councillors, then rushed back to Wellington Street just in time to see Mr. Dion arriving at the press conference where he was to announce his future plans. Dewan shook hands with him at that point. We waited outside and afterwards, I pressed our postcard into his hands. I'm still trying to arrange an interview with him. We would like all parties concerned about the looming threat to humanity to put aside their differences and find a way forward.

But I'm also trying to spend time with my family, bridging the distance my absence created.

We Sunshine Walkers are settling in on the idea of making our next goal helping David Suzuki turn out 100,000 people in Ottawa to demand appropriate climate action. As a first step, we'll be organizing the Global Day of Action on Climate Change, to be held on December 7 in cities across Canada.

I need to thank Ken Billings of ActCity Ottawa for his support and hospitality, Glenn MacIntosh and Soo Luen Tom of EcoSanity for their incredible support, coming out to document our progress throughout our walk and helping us get home, and the whole crew of the Council of Canadians, the Federation of Students and Kairos for making the Ottawa event possible.