Grassroots Action

What makes the Sierra Club Canada Foundation so effective is our network of experts, partners and volunteers. Our chapters are engaged in many projects at the local level. Want to get involved? Contact our national office or your local chapter. If you have a dedicated group of members who want to lead their own projects within a region, you could start a Group. According to our organization's policy: Groups may be formed by any three or more members who wish to be active in their local community or within a larger geographic area, in relation to a particular conservation issue or issues, with the intention that the group exist on an ongoing basis. Otherwise, more time-limited local issues are to be managed within the auspices of the Chapter, or if none exists, then in co- operation with program staff working at the national level.

Video - It's Gretchen Fitzgerald's Birthday! Honour her tireless work with a gift to Sierra Club Canada Foundation

Posted on December 20, 2019
No gifts for Gretchen! But if you would like make a donation to Sierra Club Canada Foundation to honour her work to help save our planet, you would make her birthday wishes come true. (And there's also a little gift for you when you do.)

BioDiversity Day at Charles Webster Public School

anonymous — July 26, 2019

Responding to an impassioned invite from teacher George Lehto, SCO members Leslie, Francine, and Aleks visited Charles E. Webster Public School in Toronto where they met with students from the school’s eco-club. Webster P.S. is an ecoschool which means they focus on learning via connecting with conservation, environmentalism, and develop gardening, tree planting, on their property. 

What Happens Now With the EPCOR Solar Farm?

Posted on July 19, 2019
Charles Richmond speaking with the press at Edmonton City Hall

Written by Jaclyn Layton

With over 72 square kilometres of lush river valley, Edmonton presents a unique intersection of urban and green space. More expansive than Stanley Park of Vancouver (4 square kilometres), or even Central Park in New York City (3.4 square kilometres),  Edmonton’s greenery is an aspect of the city that is celebrated, and therefore should be preserved and protected. The natural wonder of the North Saskatchewan River Valley has been at risk over the past 18 months over a proposed solar farm that would degrade the Valley’s natural state.

Op-Ed: EPCOR’s Solar Farm – or is it EPCOR’s Railroad?

Posted on June 15, 2019
Edmonton's River Valley, a unique and valuable asset

Edmonton City Bylaw 7188

The North Saskatchewan River Valley Area Redevelopment Plan is a comprehensive plan which envisions the major portion of the River Valley and Ravine System for use as an environmental protection area and for major urban and natural parks.  […] As Edmonton grows and changes and as land becomes more valuable the River Valley may become the threatened by commercial and industrial uses, as well as by civic uses such as public utilities. The municipal level of government has probably exerted the greatest development pressure on the River Valley with public utility proposals and transportation plans. These uses tend to be incompatible with the aims of nature preservation and parkland development.


Those excerpts from our North Saskatchewan River Valley Area Re-development Plan, Bylaw 7188, are found in its purpose, which is explicit in its regard for the importance of protecting our river valley and ravine system.  The details surrounding exceptions are strict, and the bar set high. Give it a read.

Sierra Club Canada Foundation is determined in its effort to conserve our River Valley, Edmonton’s most unique and valuable asset.

OPEN LETTER on Bill C-69 and the Role of Offshore Petroleum Boards

Gretchen Fitzgerald — June 13, 2019

June 13, 2019

 

Dear Ministers McKenna, Sohi, and Wilkinson,

 

The new Impact Assessment Act, Bill C69, will make environmental assessments for offshore oil and gas activities in Atlantic Canada have even less credibility than they do now.

 

The draft amendments to the bill introduced in the House of Commons on June 12 will allow offshore petroleum boards to chair review panels that will assess offshore oil and gas projects.

 

Provincial Highway Threatens Rare Native Grassland Ecosystem

Posted on June 5, 2019

Written by Warrick Baijius, Endangered Grassland Alliance

Saskatoon, SK, is a vibrant and growing prairie city within an agricultural landscape. But in and around Saskatoon there are some enchanting and ever-changing natural sites, gems that provide a glimpse into pre-settlement landscapes. These areas include complex and diverse combinations of native plant and animal communities, housed and fed in a mosaic of diverse habitats influenced by erosion, grazing, and fire. Some of these areas have fescue and mixed grassland prairie —globally the most threatened ecosystem, and regionally an increasingly rare occurrence (at 5% of original extent for fescue, and 9% to 15% for mixed).