NATIONAL: A MESSAGE FROM OLE HENDRICKSON, PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, SIERRA CLUB CANADA FOUNDATION

It is humbling for me to be a part of an organization with such a long and proud history of working for people and the environment. Some of us first became involved through a passion for social justice and equity, others from a love of nature and the outdoors. All of us with Sierra Club Canada Foundation want this to be a decade of positive change.

In these troubled times the need for collective action by organizations such as ours has never been more evident. Canada’s then Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Jonathan Wilkinson said it well in a column (Protecting Mother Earth on the Road to Reconciliation) that he wrote while on a plane to Moosonee, Ontario in 2021: 

"As I gazed at the vastness of Canada passing below, I was also struck by a statement made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission – which underlined there can be no reconciliation among people until there is reconciliation with Mother Earth."

There is a long way to go to recognize truth and seek reconciliation as conveyed in this statement. 

We hope these stories from our programs, chapters, and national office inspire you with a sense of what is possible when people work together for the common good. We wish you well, and we are grateful for your continuing interest and support.

This article is part of our Fall 2022 newsletter, The Activist. You can find the full newsletter here.