She prepared a powerful speech, but didn't get the chance to present it.
Twelve-year-old Autumn Peltier didn’t get to deliver her speech in the presence of the prime minister, but she’s still spreading her message that the Canadian government needs to protect the country’s water.
Peltier, who is from Wikwemikong First Nation in Ontario, had been asked to be part of the introduction of Justin Trudeau at the Assembly of First Nations’ annual meeting on Tuesday. She had prepared three handwritten pages of a speech.
“I’m not here to just have fun to travel and anything, because I have a really serious statement and I really want it to be heard,” she told The Huffington Post Canada in an interview.
But when Peltier got on stage at the Hilton Lac-Leamy hotel in Gatineau, Que., she ended up with only a few moments of the prime minister’s attention, as she gifted him a “water bundle” of a copper bowl containing a red cloth, some tobacco, and a copper cup.
“I said ‘I’m very unhappy with the choices you’ve made’,” Peltier recalled. “And he said 'I understand that.’ And then I started crying and then after that, all I got to say is, 'The pipelines.’”
She said Trudeau replied to her, “I will protect the water.”
Peltier explained on Wednesday, “I was upset with him because he broke promises with the First Nations people when he accepted the pipelines.”
Trudeau had pledged a new relationship with indigenous communities and their concerns. Last month, his Liberal government approved two major oil pipeline expansions, including the controversial Trans Mountain line through a Vancouver suburb.
Many indigenous people opposed the Trans Mountain expansion because of the environmental risk from a larger number of tankers travelling in B.C. waters.
“All that water does for our lives and the thought of water being contaminated and we won’t have any clean drinking water — it makes me very sad. And it was just my chance to say it to the prime minister,” Peltier told HuffPost.
“After time, pipelines erode, they rot and break down. There have been pipelines breaking all over,” she wrote in her prepared speech.
“I should not be standing here right now worrying about my future and my children and grandchildren’s future,” she wanted to say in front of Trudeau, who is also the minister of youth.
“Mother Earth has been in existence for billions of years and it has taken us less than a century to destroy her…. We know climate change isn’t going to change tomorrow. But tomorrow is a new day and we can try to sit together and work together to discuss other ways we can save the environment.”
Characters: APH Canada, 2p!Canada
Summary: Matthew was looking for a break. A break from the city, a break from his brother, a break from life. Fly-in fishing is a popular excursion in Northern Ontario. It's an adventure, it's a getaway, and it's oh, so Canadian. Four guys flying in to a remote lake in the middle of nowhere. What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter Index: http://thehoseheadcanuck.tumblr.com/writing
Read on FF.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11351319/1/Zulu-Echo-Down
Chapter 2: Lost
Matthew came-to soon after the plane finally settled, broken and smoking in the calming storm. His vision swam as he slowly regained each of his senses. He blinked several times, trying to find his bearings. There was a searing pain in his right shoulder and his head felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to it. Something warm trailed down his forehead and he clumsily raised his hand to wipe it away. Matthew’s fingers came back red. He grimaced.
After a quick mental check of the rest of his body, he found his other aches and pains were nothing serious from what he could gather at the moment. Matthew tried to move and found that he was still snuggly strapped to his seat; although it seemed like the rest of the plane had not fared as well. The passenger side window was cracked with remnants of someone’s –most likely his- blood on it. The door was clinging to the plane by one hinge while the entirety of the right wing was gone. The front windshield was cracked and missing in some places and the control board was smashed to pieces. The floor of the plane was also supposed to exist the last time Matthew remembered.
A pained wheeze caught the blonde’s attention, and he turned to his left to see Matt struggling with his seatbelt.
“Matt…”
The pilot caught the other’s eye and said, “You OK?”
“Y-yeah, I think so,” Matthew replied.
Finally unbuckling his belt, Matt reached over to help the blonde with his. “Good. We need to get out of here.”
“Right…”
Once Matthew was free from his seat, he waited for Matt to stumble out of wreckage before carefully climbing over the captain’s seat and following after the other man. Matthew held his head with his good hand, keeping the other as still as possible, as his world began to turn. He suddenly felt faint and his stomach was threatening to empty its contents over the forest floor.
“Easy,” he heard Matt mutter as the pilot guided him to sit against something solid, probably a tree.
“I’m OK,” Matthew breathed, trying to keep his breakfast down. “I just-”
A spine-chilling wail of agony cut off whatever Matthew was going to say. The two men whipped their heads towards the wreckage.
“The others!” the blonde managed.
Matt jumped to his feet and ran back to the wreckage. Matthew could now see that the tail end of the plane had separated entirely from the rest and was laying a good 10 feet away from the body. His stomach dropped as a feeling of dread began to creep up his throat. He watched Matt pick his way around the scattered debris and disappear around the other side of the plane.
“Alec! Rob!” he heard Matt call.
A pained cry was his only reply.
A few tense moments of silence passed before a shrill screech echoed through the air. Matthew nearly jumped out of his skin as his heart hammered in his chest. He stood and wavered a bit, but he did not feel as nauseous and lightheaded as before. The blonde quickly, but cautiously, made his way around the other side of the plane and froze at the sight that met him.
Alec sat beside a slumped-over Rob in the plane seat, pale and gasping for air. His leg was mangled and crushed under part of the bottom of the machine. The soil around him was soaked in blood. Matt was pushing on the seat Matthew had previously occupied in an attempt to shift the floor enough to free Alec’s leg.
“I can only hold it up!” Matt ground out. “G-grab him!”
Matthew snapped back to reality and rushed to Alec’s side. As he went to hook his right around Alec’s waist, a sharp jolt of pain traveled through the limb and he pulled back. Waves of pain rolled from his shoulder and he clenched his eyes, a few hot tears escaping to rolling down his cheeks.
“I think… my shoulder! I can’t move my arm at all!” Matthew said, looking desperately at Matt.
The pilot grunted as he had to lower the seat. Alec let out a pained groan. Matt motioned frantically with his hands, saying, “Figure something out!”
“O-OK!” Turning back to Alec, Matthew patted the man’s cheek to get his attention. The twin’s wide eyes flickered to meet his own, but he did not say anything. “Alec, I’m going to hook my arm under your armpit. You have to hold on to my shirt so I can pull you out, OK?”
Alec only nodded and shakily followed the blonde’s instructions. Matthew nodded to the pilot and Matt pushed on the seat with all his strength. Matthew pulled and forcibly dragged the screaming Alec from the wreck. The twin panted and let his arms fall limply to his sides once his leg was unstuck. He looked even paler than before and was on the verge of losing consciousness.
“Grab his injured leg,” Matt ordered as he wrapped his arms under Alec’s armpits.
Matthew did as he was told and glanced back at the wreckage. “What about Rob?”
“Focus on Alec.” The man ordered, wearing a grim look that made the other wary.
The two men dragged Alec a few feet away from the plane and propped him up against an outcrop of rocks. The man had passed out, but he was still breathing, albeit barely. Matthew had to sit again as another wave of nausea hit him and Matt bent down, facing away from Matthew, to inspect Alec’s leg. First, the pilot hastily unbuckled his belt and wrapped it securely above where the wound started. He then shrugged off his button-down to reveal a plain, white tank. He pulled it over his head and used it as a bandage to soak up all of the blood.
After Matt pulled on his over shirt and buttoned it up, he walked over to Matthew and crouched to inspect him. The blonde kept his eyes shut as the man pushed his bangs away from his forehead to reveal an ugly cut near his right temple. A large bump was already forming and it still oozed blood. Matthew heard the pilot ‘tsk’ before he removed his hand and using it to gently prod his arm and shoulder instead. A sharp intake of breath and the feeling of bone protruding from under the skin was enough of a sign for Matt to tell it was most likely a dislocated shoulder.
“Can you hang on for a few more minutes?” Matt asked, rising to his feet. “I’m going to go find the first aid kit.”
“And Rob,” Matthew added, giving the other man as hard a look as he could.
Matt mumbled something under his breath, but agreed.
Matthew nodded and watched with half-lidded eyes as the other man jogged over to the wreckage and began to scrounge around inside. The micro-storm had disappeared, leaving clouded skies and light, misty rain in its wake. Now that the adrenaline was draining from his body, the sudden reality of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks, and it took everything he had to choke back the sob threatening to spill out. His throat tightened in despair as he balled his good hand into a fist. He could not believe this had happened to him. However much he wished to be safe at home with his father and his step-family, the truth was that he was stuck in the middle of absolutely nowhere, not expected to be back until next Saturday, and with no way of getting help.
A loud, wet cough dragged Matthew from his thoughts and his eyes snapped open. He looked up to see Matt emerging from the plane, dragging with him, the limp body of the other twin. From what Matthew could see, the bigger man had no visible injuries except for a few cuts and bruises. Matt carefully laid him beside Alec before going back and retrieving a big, white box marked with a red cross. He did his best to supress his coughs as a hand flew up to his mouth.
“A-are you OK?” Matthew asked as the pilot walked over to Alec.
“Fine,” Matt croaked, wiping his hand on his jeans discreetly.
Matthew frowned, unconvinced, as the pilot settled next to Alec with the first aid kit. He was firm, but uncertain in his actions. Matthew could see the minor tremors travelling through the man’s hands as he rummaged through the box. He took out the supplies he needed and placed them in an organized fashion on the lid of the kit.
“It’s a bit late to ask, but you don’t happen to have any medicinal knowledge, do you?” Matt said, peering over at the other man.
Matthew shook his head. “No…”
The pilot sighed out a curse and began to wrap up Alec’s leg as best he could. Once he was done, he wiped his hands on his already blood-soaked shirt then skipped Rob and moved over to Matthew. The blonde opened his eyes and saw Matt hold a small bottle up for him to see.
“Pain killers,” the pilot explained. “I have to pop your shoulder back into place.”
Matthew suddenly shied away, holding his arm protectively.
“Look after Rob first. He’s unconscious, but he might have some serious injuries under his clothes somewhere,” the younger man said, nodding to the twin.
Matt sighed and sat back on his heels. He looked away and Matthew’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“What?”
“He’s dead.”
The blonde’s mouth hung open in shock.
“B-but he looks fine except for a few scrapes and bumps!”
Matt fiddled with the pill bottled. “Poor guy must’ve snapped something. Probably from the impact of us hitting the ground. Hopefully he died instantly.”
A stone seemed to settle in Matthew’s stomach as he looked over at the twins. They were happy, healthy, and alive just a few hours ago. He couldn’t comprehend how everything could go to shit so fast; just like that. The two men sat in shocked silence as the reality of the situation continued to drape over them like a suffocating blanket. The ambient sounds of the retreating storm were muted to Matthew, a faint ringing sound drowning out anything else that entered his ears. It unnerved him and made it difficult for him to concentrate.
The pilot’s sigh dragged Mattew from his stupor, but he blinked owlishly as the other man moved to a more comfortable position. He shook the pill bottle to gain the younger man’s attention.
“Take two of these. I don’t have any water so you’ll have to swallow them dry.”
Matthew looked over to the twins. “What about Rob?”
“What about him? He’s dead and there’s nothing any of us can do about it. I have to focus on keeping us alive.” Matt said
Matthew frowned. “You could at least sound a bit more sympathetic.”
“This isn’t really the time to sit around and have a pity party.” The pilot motioned impatiently to the wreckage behind him.
“I never asked for one!” Matthew snapped. “Rob is dead, though! It’s a bit disconcerting when you talk about it like you just dropped food on the floor.”
Matt let out a frustrated growl and clenched the pill bottle in a white-knuckle grip. His free hand went to run through his hair. Matthew only glared as the pilot seemed to have a small fit trying to keep himself together. Finally, the older man let out a harsh sigh and motioned to the blonde’s shoulder.
“So. Are you going to let me take care of that or not?”
Yeah, and ignore the fact that you just changed the subject, Matthew thought bitterly.
“Have you even done anything like this before?” he asked, eyeing the other man warily.
“Don’t worry.”
Matthew shot him a doubtful look as he reluctantly let the pilot guide him down to lay on his back with his injured arm extended.
As Matt grabbed the blonde’s arm just before his wrist, he said, “Listen, my brother and I used to do stupid shit all the time. I learned by experience how to deal with stuff like this.”
“Like what?” Matthew asked, a booted foot being placed against his armpit.
Matt disregarded the question and instead asked, “Ready? On three.”
The blonde clenched his eyes shut as the man beside him counted down. His yelp was more of surprise than pain, as on ‘two’, his arm was suddenly yanked and an audible popping sound was heard.
“Y-you-!” Matthew sputtered as he grabbed his shoulder.
The pilot ignored the younger man as he rose to his feet to make another trip to the wreckage. Matthew fumed silently as he watched Matt rummage around in the debris. Before he had gotten the impression that the pilot was a nice, but quiet guy and a little rough around the edges. Now he was not so sure he liked the man very much. Matt seemed to have some anger issues; although, he knew he could not –should not- judge the man by his current behaviour. These were hardly the best circumstances to determine someone’s character. Still, Matthew couldn’t help but think. He dreaded the time when Alec would awake and they would have to deal with him.
The blonde could only sigh and nurse his sore arm against his chest.
Matt returned a few minutes later lugging with him some of their bags. He was coughing again and had to stop to catch his breath. Matthew watched him in concern as he threw the bags down beside them and collapse against a tree. He couldn’t help not being worried about the other man’s health, no matter how much he thought he disliked him; it was how Matthew was as a person.
“Are you sure you’re OK?” Matthew asked as the pilot tried to even out his breathing.
“Nothing to worry about, bud,” Matt waved his hand in dismissal. “Had a bit of a cold since last week.”
Matthew gave the man beside him a doubtful look. “You weren’t coughing before we took off.”
The pilot glared at the younger man, just wishing he would shut up for a bit. Matthew only returned the look in full. Sighing in irritation, Matt reached over and pulled his bag towards him. He dug through its contents before pulling out a blocky device that resembled a phone. He cursed when he saw the cracked screen.
“What?” Matthew asked, looking over at the pilot.
Matt grumbled something about a sat phone. The machine looked relatively intact to the blonde, but as Matt pulled on the thick antennae, something cracked, and the device basically crumbled apart in his hands. The pilot cursed and whipped the phone away angrily. He rose suddenly and took out his frustration on a stray piece of metal at his feet. Matthew jumped in surprise as the object flew past his head, a little too close for comfort.
“Hey! Watch it!” he exclaimed. “You need to calm down!”
“Don’t tell me to fucking ‘calm down’!” Matt yelled. “My fucking plane crashed in the middle of nowhere and one of my passengers is dead! How do you expect me to ‘calm down’?!”
“Don’t take this out on me!” Matthew snapped. “I know. You’re frustrated. That doesn’t mean you can start kicking and throwing things around like an angry toddler!”
The pilot balked in indignation. “We crash-landed in the middle of nowhere Ontario. One of us is dead! Do I need to keep repeating myself?”
“That’s why we need to keep a level head! We need to sit down and think of a plan to-”
“I don’t think you realize the gravity of this situation,” Matt interrupted, staring at him in disbelief.
“OK, so maybe you’re a man of action. I understand, but survival takes just as much ‘think’ as it does ‘do’. Please, sit and take a minute to calm yourself down,” Matthew urged. “Nothing bad is going to happen if you do. You’re going to end up hurting yourself or someone else if you keep going on like this. What then?”
The older man stared hard at the blonde. Matthew saw several emotions flash over the pilot’s face in rapid succession. He saw anger, then defensiveness, then weariness, and then anger again. Matt’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to think of a snappy reply, but all he could utter was a huff of frustration.
“Fine.”
Matthew flashed a small smile as his shoulders sagged a little in relief. He watched as the other man turned away and shove his hands in his pockets. He toed at a few pieces of wreckage before rethinking it and walking away, coming to a rest on a large, flat outcrop, facing away from the rest of them. The pilot ran a dirtied hand through his hair as he stared out into the forest. Matthew tore his eyes off of the pilot and shook his head. He let it fall against the tree behind him. A sudden wave of fatigue washed over him and he felt his eyelids grow heavy. Despite trying to fight it, Matthew eventually fell into a fitful sleep, leaving the mess of his situation behind if only for a while.
oooOOOooo
Matthew recalled waking up several times during his snooze, but they were fuzzy and there was a giant blank spot in his memory. It was as if there was a chunk of important information missing, but he couldn’t be bothered to try and remember. His head was pounding, he was sore all over, there was an annoying light dancing on his eyelids, and someone’s voice was calling him to the land of the living. It was beginning to annoy the hell out of him.
“-id… hey, bud… Matthew…”
Matthew groaned and moved to swat at the hand on his shoulder. However, a dull pain stilled his arm and he opened his eyes to find his limb resting against his chest in a sling. He blinked groggily and looked up to come face to… crotch with someone’s pelvic area. He quickly moved his eyes higher to the person’s face. He almost immediately regretted it though, as he met a familiar pair of eyes and the blank spot in his memory was filled.
The blonde suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Matt offered the younger man his hand, but he ignored it and scrambled up, rushing a few feet away before retching. Tears mixed with sweat as Matthew dry-heaved, nothing left for his stomach to send back up. A shaky hand came up and wiped the saliva from his mouth, and he sat back, breathing heavily. The pilot hesitantly walked over to the hunched figure and awkwardly cleared his throat.
“I made a fire,” he muttered, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Come over when you’re, uh, done.”
“…Thanks.” Matthew replied, somewhat bitterly.
The pilot hesitated before turning on his heel and briskly walking away. He knew he had missed his first chance at apologizing and making the situation a lot easier in the long run. Matt was well aware he had ruffled the boy’s feathers a tad. It wasn’t intentional. To him, he sounded perfectly reasonable, but after reflecting on his choice of words concerning Rob, he guessed he could have sounded more respectful.
Matt sighed as he poked at the small fire. He’d just have to take the next chance he got to apologize. Dysfunction in a survival situation was sure to end up in disaster.
Steadying his breathing, Matthew stood and took time to observe his surroundings. It seemed as though he had slept quite a while. The sun had just set, and darkness was falling over the bush. The rain had finally stopped and the clouds cleared, leaving fading light and long shadows. Matthew would have appreciated the scene more if he had not been stuck in the middle of nowhere. Now the atmosphere seemed dark and foreboding, hinting at the long night ahead.
His gaze travelled to the twins, where Alec was still out cold and it did not seem like he had even regained consciousness yet. Rob was still in the same spot that Matt at placed him, but someone had covered his head and upper torso with a jacket. Matthew looked to the fire where he spotted Matt. He was seated by the fire, staring at it, lost in his own thoughts.
Matthew walked over and sat across from the pilot. An awkward, and dense, silence settled over the two men. Unspoken words hung in the air like dark clouds. The blonde shoved his hand into his sweater pocket, coming into contact with hard plastic. He pulled out the pill bottle Matt had had earlier. Matthew stared at the ground as he fiddled with the pill bottle. The writing on the bottle blurred into a mess of scrambled letters, and a realization hit Matthew.
“My glasses…” A hand went up to pat his face to confirm that his glasses were no longer perched on his nose. When had he lost them? He hadn’t even realized they were gone up until now.
Matt eyed him. “What?”
“I lost my glasses,” the blonde said, getting to his feet. “I need them to see up close.”
“You’re not going to find them,” the pilot called after Matthew as he started towards the wreckage.
He turned to shoot the other man an irritated look. “It couldn’t hurt to look.”
Matt’s eyebrow twitched in mild annoyance. He muttered something under his breath as he rand a hand through his hair. “I- you- You’re not going to find them because I know they’re not there.”
“And why would that be?” Matthew asked, his good hand going to his hip.
The pilot fished something out of his shirt pocket and held them out towards Matthew.
“Oh… you found them,” the blonde said, suddenly feeling awkward and embarrassed.
Matt became very interested in his boots as the other man came to retrieve his spectacles.
“I, uh, went back to see if I could scavenge anything. Found them near the control board.”
“Thank you…”
“No problem.”
Silence.
“So, did you find anything else useful-”
A loud crack made both men jump about a foot in the air. Their heads snapped to look across the clearing, Matt jumping to his feet and Matthew moving a bit closer to the other man. They stared into the murky darkness of the bush. What little light the fire provided did nothing to penetrate any further than about half a foot into the surrounding trees. The two men exchanged an uncertain glance.
They stood there without anything else happening for so long, they almost began to believe they imagined the noise. However, a loud rustling, this time sounding closer, drew their attention towards the wreckage. They could not spot the source of the noise, but it began to move closer and closer to the two men.
“What do you think it is?” Matthew whispered.
Matt reached towards the fire and drew out a long, thick branch. He handed it to the blonde then retrieved another for himself.
“It sounds big,” the pilot replied. “Maybe a moose. Maybe a bear.”
Matthew grimaced. “Neither of those sound good.”
The source of the sounds began sniffing and letting out grunts and growls, confirming one of the pilot’s guess. Matt bent down and grabbed a nearby rock, staring towards where he thought the animal was. He hacked the rock as hard as he could, and they heard the beast snort as it crashed into the undergrowth.
Matt began to yell and wav his arms as he advanced towards the bush. Matthew quickly followed suit, and together they tried to ward off whatever was visiting their crash site. There were growls and huffs, and they saw a flash of sleek black fur and stained yellow teeth before the beast retreated. Both men stood breathing heavily as, for what seemed the hundredth time that day, the adrenaline left their bodies.
“That was a big bear,” Matthew huffed, staring at the place where said animal had disappeared.
“That was a very big bear,” the pilot grunted beside him.
Matthew slowly returned to his spot and placed the branch back into the fire. The other man lowered himself to the ground as well, a hand coming up to clutch his stomach as he bent at the waist. Matthew took note of the action, but did not comment on it.
“So, what do we do now?” the younger man asked.
Matt shrugged, seeming way too flippant for someone in his situation. “What can we do? It’s not like we can move to another spot. Besides, black bears rarely attack humans. Its curiosity probably just got the better of it.”
“I suppose…”
The blonde sighed and, hugged his sweater closer to his body. The pilot was right, what could they do other than wait and hope?
---Notes---
Uh wow, been a while, hasn’t it? Pretty much only working on this because I love the plot idea. Continuing to post it here because I’m still gaining new followers even though this blog is pretty much inactive? Anyways, enjoy~
