News

Select a news topic from the list below, then select a news article to read.

Rally Against Enbridge Pipeline Well Attended, Where Was Mainstream Media?

Details: Written by Beverly Saunders Beverly Saunders; Category: News News; Published: 30 March 2012 30 March 2012

On the 23rd anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Vancouver Art Gallery square was packed with protesters at the March 26 gathering to hear Bill McKibbon of 350.org speak to the concerns about increasing carbon infrastructure, which a pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands would most assuredly do. There were other speakers, mostly native who spoke strongly against the pipeline and the oil tanker traffic that would ply our fish-sensitive coastline. We were reminded that these tankers were 1,000 feet long or about the length of three football fields. Hard to imagine.

Shel Neufeld Benefit Concert for ELF set for April 14

Details: Written by Beverly Saunders Beverly Saunders; Category: News News; Published: 30 March 2012 30 March 2012

A benefit concert to raise awareness of Mt. Elphinstone’s forests, showcasing hundreds of photographs, with live music will be held on Saturday, April 14, at 7:30 pm at the Roberts Creek Community Hall. This show will feature Shel Neufeld, who will project his West Coast images on a large screen, while performing his original acoustic guitar music. Members of local First Nations groups will open the show.

Shel Neufeld is no stranger to at risk forests, nor to supporting them with his striking colour photographs and musical compositions. Neufeld, whose West Coast photography is displayed across Canada, has toured the country countless times with his music, and opened for the likes of the Grapes of Wrath, Jeremy Fisher, Don Ross, and Lynn Miles, and collaborated with Mae Moore and Don Kerr.

His visions are built on true connection with both landscape (Shel has done mountain and valley trips over a month long and loves a good bushwhack) and the communities that have utilized the forests for millennia. He states, “My greatest hope is that, through this concert, residents of the Sunshine Coast can gain a greater connection to our forest here, while at the same time, grow in deeper understanding of the Sechelt and Squamish Nation. Through understanding and respect, we can accomplish amazing things.”

Formative for Neufeld was his volunteer time with Uts’am Witness,a cross-cultural collaboration between artists, a Vancouver community centre, and the Squamish Nation. The program succeeded in helping to protect ancient forests in Sims Creekand the Elaho Valley in the Northern part of Squamish territory and raising awareness of the Squamish Nation culture and traditional territory claims.

"In 2005, when several Squamish Chiefs ceremonially closed the work that began ten years earlier, the Uts’am Witness Project had inspired and educated over 8000 participants from the general public at camping weekends, workshops, and events, and several areas of the Squamish Watershed were protected as Wild Spirit Places,” reports Neufeld.

Since moving with his family to Roberts Creek, Neufeld's appreciation and respect for the forests of Mt Elphinstone has grown. “For the water that local residents and wildlife depend on, the wild mushrooms and medicinal plants that are harvested by both First Nations members and the larger community, the incredible biodiversity that feeds both our lungs and our spirits, we need to do a much better job of safeguarding these forests for now and future generations,” he says.

Proceeds for the show will benefit Elphinstone Logging Focus’s efforts to protect local forest areas. Advance tickets available for $12 from MELOmania, Gaia’s Fair Trade, and Strait Music. Suggested Donation at the door, $14-$20, kids under 12, free or by donation.

A Budget for the Rest of Us: Alternative Federal Budget 2012

Details: Written by Administrator Administrator; Category: News News; Published: 29 March 2012 29 March 2012

The economists at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives have created an Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) and call on the Government of Canada to scrap spending cuts and table a budget that restores Canadians' trust in the economy, public institutions, and democracy. The AFB notes that "we can invest in public programs, job creation, and infrastructure to the benefit of all Canadians and still balance the books."

April Fool's Run on a Green Path

Details: Written by Beverly Saunders Beverly Saunders; Category: News News; Published: 24 March 2012 24 March 2012

The annual April Fool's Run from Gibsons to Sechelt has committed to an even higher green standard this year by joining Athletes for a Fit Planet Pledge of Sustainability. Run organizers Teresa and Larry Nightingale have taken the pledge for the 2012 run.

Leaked Document Reveals Plan to Gut Habitat Protection in Fisheries Act

Details: Written by Beverly Saunders Beverly Saunders; Category: News News; Published: 13 March 2012 13 March 2012

A leaked government document contends that the Harper government has plans to amend Section 35 and 36 of the Canada Fisheries Act, the sections that deal with habitat protection and pollution. Environmental advocates and the Liberal and NDP parties are warning of a watered down act in which habitat will be eliminated.

Morton Questions Norwegian Donations to BC Enviro Groups

Details: Written by Beverly Saunders Beverly Saunders; Category: News News; Published: 13 March 2012 13 March 2012

March 9, 2012. Yesterday a large group of people met the Norwegian delegates, that includes one of the most powerful men in Norway, as they entered a meeting with the operators of their BC fish feedlot corporations. While our meeting in the parking lot went well, the head of Mainstream's "Environmental Department and Communications" got into a scuffle with one of the Norwegian political leaders and stuck her tongue out at us. Clearly the Norwegian salmon feedlot corporations are running out of lines of defense.

Queen of the Sun and SC Beekeepers Create Quite a Buzz

Details: Written by Beverly Saunders Beverly Saunders; Category: News News; Published: 10 March 2012 10 March 2012

A visually beautiful film, "Queen of the Sun" brought the story of the honey bee and the people who care for them home to the Sunshine Coast as local beekeepers told their stories and updated the audience on what is happening with our local bees following the film showing.

Nadi Bids Good-bye as FAN Coordinator

Details: Written by Beverly Saunders Beverly Saunders; Category: Latest Latest; Published: 07 March 2012 07 March 2012

Dearest friends and co-conspirators :)

As many of you know, this past fall I was fortunate to gain full-time employment as the manager & program coordinator of the Iris Griffith Centre (run by the Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Society). Though the Lagoon Society has a different mandate than One Straw, I'm so happy to have the chance to continue working in my chosen field of sustainability, education, ecosystem protection & community capacity building. The subject matter may be different, but the aims are congruent & mutually supportive, as indeed is now recognized in our new One Straw charter.