Environmental pains

Dante Ryel, a 26-year-old Waterloo resident, is just over three weeks into his fast for having the Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act, passed.

In maintaining a water and water supplement diet, he has lost 17 pounds already, however, Ryel explained, “I’m doing good, I saw my doctor yesterday, everything seems alright.”

The Facebook group Starving for Change administrated by Ryel has been very supportive, and as of March 26, over 1500 members have joined the group.

On March 16, over 20 members from the Facebook group took part in a 24-hour fast to show their commitment to this environmental issue. Ryel explained, “It was successful, it was comforting knowing that people are fasting along with me.”

A lot of people are working extremely hard but Ryel is surprised older people are doing a good majority of the legwork in support of Bill C-311. “It’s our generations issue so I expected a lot more involvement from younger Canadian citizens, I have mixed feelings,” Ryel stated.

Ryel admitted that he was not sure if his actions through the Facebook group would be enough to have his voice heard and stressed that networking is the key to raising awareness. He hopes that people will invite each other to the Facebook group as a way to draw more attention to the movement.

From the political standpoint, there have not been any indications from the Liberal Party that they either support or are against the bill that was brought forward by the NDP.

The bill is expected to be debated on March 31 in the House of Commons.

With less than a week of the fast to go, Ryel seems to be be coping well and isn’t having too many cravings for food.

When asked what will be his first meal, he modestly replied, “I’ll probably just have cereal for breakfast.”

Ryel acknowledged that by making such drastic changes to his food intake, he will have to ease into what he eats and eventually satisfy his cravings.

To help promote Bill C-311 and the importance of the fast, Ryel has created a new Youtube video.

He will also be creating another youtube video once the fast is completed.