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Conference is just around
the corner!
The weekend kicks off
Friday, June 9th with keynote speaker Maude Barlow, comedian
Greg Malone and a not to be missed performance by East Coast
singer-songwriter Mary Jane Lamond!
Visit www.peopleandtheplanet.ca
for more information on speakers, workshops, EcoFair, Kids and
the Planet and how you can join the
fun!
NATIONAL
Mackenzie Wild Update www.mackenziewild.ca
In the Northwest Territories, public hearings for the
multi-billion dollar basin-opening Mackenzie Gas Project
continue. Rachel Plotkin, Forests and Biodiversity campaign
director has joined the team working on the Mackenzie Wild
campaign. Sierra Legal Defence Fund lawyer Paul Falvo attended
Joint Review Panel hearings on "Conservation Areas and
Measures" in Fort Simpson on behalf of Sierra Club of Canada.
Next Sierra Club of Canada appearance will be in Hay River in
June. Meet Rachel and Paul at the Mackenzie Wild seminar at
the People and the Planet Conference -- and join our email
list if you want to keep up to date on the campaign: www.sierraclub.ca/mailman/listinfo/scc-mgp
Let's Keep the BUZZ Going About "An Inconvenient
Truth"
“An Inconvenient Truth” -- the new film featuring former US
vice-president Al Gore's
tireless work lecturing in town
after town and city after city, showing slides in a brave
effort to wake people up to the imminent threat posed by the
climate crisis. The documentary is unlike any other film
on this subject. It is entertaining, hopeful and profoundly
moving. It is both a very personal story and a hard core
science briefing. It is often very funny. As a result, it is
likely the best public education tool we have ever had on the
threat posed by climate change/global warming.
Please help spread the word. If it is in a theatre
near you, go see it and get your friends to see it. We
need this film to take off—to set records. To do better than
“Fahrenheit 911.” To get people and pundits and mass
media marketing people to start asking "why?"
Please send this message on to other lists. We need this
film to generate buzz. We need it to be in every theatre. We
need Paramount Classics to start throwing money at promotion
when they see the public will line up, buy popcorn and sit
down to really understand the threat posed by our addiction to
fossil fuels.
“An Inconvenient
Truth” opened in Toronto June 2, and in Montreal, Vancouver,
and will open in Ottawa June 9th. Openings in Edmonton,
Calgary, Winnipeg, Halifax, and Victoria will follow on June
16th.
For more details on the film and its release date in your
city visit: www.climatecrisis.net.
Remembrance for the Future: Chernobyl
The worst industrial accident in history occurred on April
26th, 1986. Reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear
power station exploded and released massive amounts of
radioactive poisons into the atmosphere, creating radioactive
fallout throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
Twenty years later, the Chernobyl disaster is far from
over. Cancer rates have exploded in the area of the
former Soviet Union, and will continue to increase for
decades. More than half of the fallout fell in Western
Europe, contributing to a greater death toll in countries
outside of the former Soviet Union. Unfortunately,
thanks to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) and
the World Health Organization’s (WHO) efforts to downplay the
horrors of the accident, a great deal of controversy exists
around final death toll estimates. In a press release on
a report by WHO, the number of deaths cited is 4,000, whereas
the actual report cites 9,000 deaths.
At a conference held in Kiev in April, which brought
together many environmental organizations from around the
world, The Other Report on Chernobyl was released. This
report places the global death toll between 30,000 to
60,000.
The conference in Kiev served to draw international
attention to the full impacts of Chernobyl, to remind the
world that this is an ongoing disaster and that the official
UN bodies are in a conflict of interest and are not adequately
assessing the full impacts of this disaster.
Read Emilie Moorhouse's op-ed
piece.
ELIZABETH MAY
SPEAKS
 How to be an Activist Training
Register now for
this all day workshop with Elizabeth May and receive a signed
copy of her new book – How to Save the World in Your Spare
Time.
This workshop is in
conjunction with Sierra Club of Canada’s People and the
Planet: Changing Values for a Sustainable Future conference
(www.peopleandtheplanet.ca)
June 9-11 at Saint Paul University, Ottawa
DATE: Friday, June 9,
2006
TIME: 9:00am - 4:00pm
FEE: - $70 which
includes the workshop, lunch and a signed copy of Elizabeth’s
new book!!
To register contact Tania
Beriau (Taniab@sierraclub.ca or
1.888.810.4204 or 613.241.4611) Limited registration – first
come first serve – max 25
participants.
Friends of Rockwood Park - Public
Address
DATE:
Monday, June 19, 2006
TIME: 7:00pm
LOCATION:
St. Joachim's Church Hall, Saint John, NB
Elizabeth will be delivering the public
address at an event organized by Friends of Rockwood Park, a
group fighting to keep the proposed 30 inch export gas
pipeline away from the city's neighbourhoods and beloved
Rockwood Park. Come learn more about the issue. Elizabeth will
also be available to sign copies of How to Save the World
in Your Spare Time.
Clearing the Air on Climate
Change - A national tour on the Environmental Impacts of a
Rapidly Expanding Athabasca Tar Sands
Join Elizabeth May as she addresses the
realities and fallacies of this crucially important, national
issue, sponsored by various environmental groups across the
country, as listed below.
Montreal
DATE: Tuesday, June 13,
2006
TIME: 7:00pm
LOCATION: Cinema de Seve, local
LB125, 1400 De Maisonneuve W, Concordia
University
SPONSORS: Equiterre, Greenpeace and the Summer
Program of the Institute in Management and Community
Development of Concordia University
Winnipeg
DATE: Tuesday, June 20,
2006
TIME: 7:30pm
LOCATION: Hotel Fort Garry, 222
Broadway Ave. Winnipeg.
SPONSOR: Manitoba
Wildlands
Edmonton
DATE: Thursday, June 22,
2006
TIME: 7:00pm
LOCATION: tba
SPONSORS:
Alberta Public Interest Research Group (APIRG) and Toxics
Watch
Saskatoon
DATE: Tuesday, June 27,
2006
TIME: tba
LOCATION: tba
SPONSOR:
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Regina
DATE: Wednesday, June 28,
2006
TIME: tba
LOCATION: tba
SPONSOR:
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
For more information contact, Andrew
Dumbrille,
613-862-1852
Can't
make an event? - Order
a copy of Elizabeth's latest book
today!
GRASSROOTS GROUPS
 Yellowknife Membership
Drive
Sierra Club of Canada volunteers Kevin
Kennedy (left) and Paul Falvo (right) ganged up on
unsuspecting Northerners in Yellowknife's first Sierra Club of
Canada membership drive. By the end of Earth Week, NWT
membership more than doubled!
ATLANTIC CANADA
CHAPTER
Become a Word Warrior
We are asking people to please become a Word Warrior and
submit Letters to the Editor on environmental issues to the
provincial newspaper or to their local newspaper during this
provincial election. If you do submit a letter, please cc it
to nsen@web.ca so that we can
try and keep track what letters are submitted.
Daily News:
letterstoeditor@hfxnews.ca
Chronicle Herald: letters@herald.ca
Come to our
Annual General Meeting
Sierra Club of Canada - Atlantic Canada Chapter and the
Nova Scotia Environmental Network's Conference & Annual
General Meeting, Friday, July 28 to Sunday, July 30, 2006.
Shire Learning Centre Carlton, Yarmouth County.
Registration is now open on our website. www.sierraclub.ca/atlantic/aga06.htm
Take
Action! - Public Feedback Requested on White’s Point Quarry
and Marine Terminal on Digby Neck
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the White’s
Point Quarry & Marine Terminal has been released and we
are now in the period of the Public Review which will end on
August 4, 2006. If the quarry goes ahead, two million tonnes
of aggregate per year will be blasted, crushed and removed
from a very fragile peninsula, about 2 kilometres wide.
The area’s very healthy fishing and tourism industries could
be severely threatened by the noise, dust and quarry
traffic. This flies in the face of the idea of
eco-tourism and environmental protection. The cumulative
effect of the clearly intended, large and long-term operations
is a grave concern for the future. Should this proposed
undertaking be given the green light by our two governments,
and should the shipments to international destinations get
underway, we will have no recourse for appeal when our
environment and quality of life are undermined. You will
find more information at www.wpq-jointreview.ca
and www.savedigbyneck.org.
Please help us stop this
quarry project by sending in your
letters and comments to Ms. Debra Myles, Panel Manager before
August 4, 2006.
Debra Myles, Panel Manager
White’s Point Quarry &
Marine Terminal Project-Joint Review Panel
c/o Canadian
Environmental Assessment Agency
160 Elgin Street, Ottawa,
ON, K1A 0H3
Fax: 613-957-0941
e-mail: Comments@WPQ-JointReview.ca
ONTARIO
CHAPTER
A Quick
Action
As many of you will have
noticed, the Ontario government recently juggled a few key
cabinet positions. Of particular note is Minister Dwight
Duncan's move from Finance back to Energy. This mini shuffle
gives us more time to ensure our provincial government does
not repeat its past nuclear mistakes.
Please take a minute to
welcome Minister Duncan back to the Ministry of Energy and
urge him to consider a sane electricity future for Ontario
through conservation, demand management, and an increase in
clean renewable power. Ontario does not need to spend billions
on nuclear power ... we can and should fulfill our energy
needs without it!!!
For some key facts and
arguments visit: www.sierraclub.ca/national/getinvolved/item.shtml?x=925
Email
Minister Duncan at dduncan.mpp@liberal.ola.org
or
put pen to paper:
Hon. Dwight Duncan
Ministry of
Energy
Hearst Block, 4th Floor, 900 Bay St.
Toronto
ON M7A 2E1
SIERRA YOUTH COALITION
2005 Annual Report is Released
 What organization is reaching one of out
six Canadians? Who emphasizes stargazing alongside vegan
cooking and lobbying the prime minister? Now that the
Sierra Youth Coalition has unveiled its 2005 Annual Report,
all of this amazing work is in one place. Learn what Canadian
youth are doing to make their voices heard, transforming the
direction of university campuses, high schools, and
communities towards sustainable development. The 2005 Annual
Report is full of pictures and stories of Canada's foremost
youth environmental organization - highlighting one of the
most important agents for change in Canada today. Read
it today, and go to www.syc-cjs.org for more
information.
WORLD URBAN FORUM 3
This June
19-23, more than 6,000 participants from 150 nations will
gather in Vancouver, Canada for the third session of the World
Urban Forum. This biennial UN-HABITAT event on urban
sustainability examines and identifies solutions to the
critical problems facing cities around the globe.
Information:
www.wuf3-fum3.ca |
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Two sisters are on a cross-Canada bike
tour that we like to call "Just-Go-East!" If you have
insight on places and people to visit along the way, they are
welcoming any suggestions; go to