News Releases

OTTAWA—Sierra Club Canada says federal infrastructure spending should be invested on developing and maintaining public transportation, not wasted on new roads. OC Transpo Route 245 was recently cut from the City’s budget without public consultation leaving residents south of Manotick without public transportation.

“We should be making it easier for residents to leave their cars at home and take the city bus to work; instead we’re canceling bus routes and building unnecessary roads to new urban sprawl, exasperating traffic and climate change,” said John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada.

Route 245 was the only bus route canceled in the City’s budgeting process. Residents south of Manotick upset with the cut petitioned...

Full-Page ad in Hollywood's Variety shows Pandora's Unobtanium is Canada's Tar Sands - Truck in movie identical to Tar Sands mining truck

HOLLYWOOD, CA, March 4 /CNW/ - The world's best known environmental groups, representing eight countries along with First Nations, are running a full-page ad today in Hollywood's Variety, read by the who's who of the entertainment industry, praising Canadian-born filmmaker James Cameron for bringing to light in film what is playing out in reality in Canada's controversial Tar Sands.

The ad, part of a special Oscar edition, has the headline "James Cameron and Avatar - You Have Our Vote". The ad shows a 797B Heavy Hauler, one of the first trucks used to mine the Tar Sands, which is identical to some of the trucks used in Avatar...

EDMONTON--An updated grizzly bear status report released yesterday by the Alberta government confirms shockingly low numbers of mature breeding grizzly bears in Alberta and highlights the urgency of reducing the number of grizzly deaths in the province. Conservationists now assert that there is no longer any reason to delay necessary recovery actions, including listing the grizzly as Threatened under the Alberta Wildlife Act, limiting the densities of roads and reducing the amount of motorized access in prime grizzly habitat, and implementing effective public education and conflict prevention programs.

Today’s report, titled Status of the Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos) in Alberta: Updated 2010, estimates only 359 mature breeding grizzly bears are found on provincial lands...

OTTAWA---The endangered Blanding’s turtle is to be sacrificed on the alter of political indifference just to grab some easy money. The Terry Fox Extension project which was not planned for at least another ten years is going ahead now because the relaxation of federal environmental regulations and the callousness of the City of Ottawa and Infrastructure Minister John Baird.

The City of Ottawa is fast-tracking construction of Terry Fox Drive in order to pave over the evidence of a pristine habitat and endangered species. The City began pressing ahead with construction this week while permits from the province have yet to be issued.

"Claiming a fence in the snow will protect endangered species is just silly," said John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada.